Germany Wants to Sell Ukraine Their Most Advanced Tank — The Panther
No sooner had the ink dried on the deal to send Ukraine the older Abrams and Leopard tanks, Germany now wants to sell Ukraine its most modern, technologically-advanced Panther KF51 main battle tank.
But this might not be a good thing…
Going from Ukraine’s Soviet-era tanks, leapfrogging the Abrams and Leopard, and going straight to the Panther could put a heavy burden on a Ukrainian military that’s already trying to get trained as quickly as possible on mid-tier armor.
CEO Armin Papperger of German defense contractor Rheinmetall told the German newspaper Handelsblatt “We are talking to Kyiv about exporting the Panther.”
The Panther isn’t a huge departure from the Leopard — more of an incremental upgrade. The big changes are in battle management systems and armament.
The Panther also has advanced launchers for HERO 120 loitering munitions that give the tank an onboard kamikaze drone capability.
The Panther is based on the hull of the Leopard 2A4 and reportedly uses the same powerplant, but the main differences are in the turret: The Panther now has an autoloaded 130 mm big gun, which removes the need for a fourth crew member to load shells.
