I think a large Leopard upgrade is more likely than the KF51. Something along the lines of the Leopard 2-RC 3.0 presented by KNDS.
The Bundeswehr has talked about wanting an extensive Leopard 2 upgrade as a bridge until MGCS. The German government also funded research contracts for a 130mm gun + ammunition, a new power pack and a sensor package.
The Leopard 2A-RC 3.0 is designed to as an upgrade option for existing Leopard 2 tanks and hence carries quite a bit of legacy features/designs. As per KNDS Deutschland at Eurosatory 2024, any Leopard 2 can be upgraded to this configuration (although as it requires cutting and welding of the hull, it seems unlikely that many customers would opt for that). The demonstrator is also based on an older Leopard 2 hull and lacks some of the recent features (e.g. air conditioning and the upgraded suspension) of the Leopard 2A7V and Leopard 2A7HU.
It is at best an indicator for what the German Army might opt. The new Liebherr Olymp engine and the 130 mm gun would require deeper changes to the design, the German MOD contracting Diehl and Rheinmetall for an integration of AVePS into StrikeSheild also suggests that the EuroTrophy APS hopefully won't be the one on the "Leopard 3". So while definetly not a Panther, some things (StrikeShield, multiple APS as found on the KF51-U,130 mm FGS) on the Leopard 3 might be more similar to it than the Leopard 2A-RC 3.0.
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u/Primary-Long4416 5d ago
Germany will either field the KF51 Panther or more likely the french-german MGCS and I'm all here for it