The AMX-56 Leclerc is a tank that was first produced in 1992 by France, and it is considered (not just by me) to be one of the best combat tank designs, despite being untested. The tank is 9.87 meters (32.4 feet) long, 3.71 meters (12.2 feet) wide, and 2.53 meters (8.3 feet) high. It weighs around 54,500 kilograms (120,152 pounds), or about 60.1 tons.
The main gun is the 120mm GIAT CN120-26/52. This gun has 5 main types of ammunition: 120mm Armour-Piercing projectiles, 120mm High-Explosive projectiles, APFSDS (Armour-Piercing, Fin-Stabilized, Discarding Sabot) rounds, and HEAT (High-Explosive, Anti-Tank) rounds. For actual shooting, it has a fully automatic fire control system, which is aided by nightvision, laser rangefinder, and FINDERS. FINDERS (Fast Information, Navigation, Decision, and Reporting System) provides a map that can show the soldiers current active targets, route planning, and figure out if someone is friend or foe.
It's also unique because it has a 12.7mm GIAT M693 coaxial heavy machine gun, while coaxial machine guns are usually 7.62 mm. It also can hold 27 smoke grenade dischargers, which are part of the GALIX CVPS (combat vehicle protection system). Despite all the heavy machinery, it has a relatively low profile design, which makes it super hard to spot on the battle field!!
It can hold 40 120mm rounds total for the GIAT CN120-26/52. This ammunition is set away from the main seating and protected by blast panels, which makes sure the crew is safe in case the ammunition gets hit by an enemy. It can also hold 1,100 12.7mm rounds, and 3,000 7.62 rounds!
To add to crew safety, it has an internal automatic fire suppression system, which detects and can put out fires. There's also a NBC system (Nuclear, Biological, Chemical) to help with airborne diseases.
The actual tank is made of NERA, Non-explosive/Non-energetic Reactive Armour. The entire tank is powered by a SACM UDU V8X T9 Hyperbar 8-cylinder diesel fuel engine with 1500 horsepower, while the average car has about 200 horsepower :333 The engine is also tied to a SESM ESM500 series automatic transmission system, which let's the tank reach speed of 44 mph on ideal surfaces. It has an operational range of 340 miles, but can be extended to 400 miles through extra fuel source. When idle, it switches to a Turbomeca TM-7083 gas turbine engine, which minimizes the auditory and visual signals.
Despite this tank being fucking awesome, it hasn't really been used in actual combat!! Only about 862 AMX-56 Leclerc tanks have been manufactured so far, and they mostly stay in France and the UAE :333
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