With the introduction of the new 130mm tank gun, Germany as well as the West want to send a clear message to Russia that they are not lagging behind in the race to deal with the T-14 Armata tank, as well as many other current weapons.
However, it can be clearly seen that the launch of the 130mm tank gun is only a temporary solution and the West has introduced a comprehensive tank development program with a clear direction like Russia…
Russia’s official introduction of the new generation T-14 tank on the Armata multi-purpose armored chassis platform in 2015 with many outstanding features is a worry for Western officials.
This has forced the West to launch programs to develop new generation tanks and anti-tank weapons against `adversaries` from Russia.
First answer from the Germans
In many ways, Germany is the world’s manufacturing power, including tanks.
In response to Russia’s launch of the T-14 Armata tank, at the Eurosatory-2016 fair taking place in Paris, German manufacturer Rheinmetall Weapon and Munition officially introduced a new generation tank gun prototype.
130mm cannon model introduced by Rheinmetall.
According to the manufacturer’s introduction, the combat performance of the new tank gun is increased by 50% compared to the most modern 120mm Rheinmetall L55 tank gun currently equipped on the Leopard 2 tank. The new 130mm tank gun uses stabilization technology.
The development of the new tank gun has been carried out by Rheinmetall Weapon and Munition since 2015. Testing of the new 130mm gun will be carried out in 2016 and will use the standard turret of the Leopard 2 tank (serving packages).
The West is out of breath?
For decades, after the end of the Cold War, with the `protective shield of NATO`, the West did not pay attention to developing new tanks, but only offered upgrade packages with the purpose of extending the life of tanks.
Meanwhile, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russia abandoned the thinking of building tanks in the direction of total war, to focus resources on a new generation of tanks with many mutant features.
Technically, even with the new 130mm tank gun, the Leopard 2 tank is not necessarily a worthy opponent of the T-14.
The problem is that with the new tank gun, the Leopard 2 tank can detect the T-14 tank in advance, approaching close enough to optimize the firepower of undersized anti-tank bullets against Russian tanks.
This does not include the 4-layer defense system (main armor, explosive reactive armor, active defense system and special design to reduce the possibility of detection) that the T-14 tank is evaluated to provide.
With the T-14 Armata tank, Russia’s tank manufacturing technology is 10-15 years ahead of the US and the West.
In addition, the solution of increasing the main gun size to 130mm on the Leopard 2 tank frame, which is optimized for the 120mm gun, will pose a series of problems regarding the stability of the tank body frame, as well as the problem of gearing.
The new T-14 tank design is highly open.
According to many sources, in the future, the T-14 tank may be equipped with a 152mm main gun with the ability to fire anti-tank bullets through up to 1 meter of uniform steel armor (RHA) with a larger range.
With the introduction of the new 130mm tank gun, Germany as well as the West want to send a clear message to Russia that they are not lagging behind in the race to deal with the T-14 Armata tank, as well as many other weapon lines.
However, it can be clearly seen that the launch of the new 130mm tank gun is only a temporary solution and the West introduces a comprehensive tank development program with a clear direction like Russia.
According to Tuan Son
National Army
