Land Forces
Programmable Munitions for Leopard 2PL MBTs
On 19th July the Armament Agency announced an intent to carry out an initial market consultation, regarding the preparatory phase of procurement of programmable ABM rounds for the Leopard 2PL main battle tanks.
The Agency is interested in 120x570 NATO rounds compatible with the Leopard 2PL main battle tanks upgraded at Bumar-Łabędy. Ammunition Communication Module (ACM) datalink compatibility is a relevant requirement here - the said datalink is used in the modernized Rh-120 L/44 gun, and it is placed between the gun and the existing FCS. The ability to use FCS-fed ballistic data is also required (without a necessity to implement further gun modifications).
The Armament Agency has defined the following requirements for the munitions:
- The round should offer the capability to neutralize lightly armoured targets, and targets protected by concrete and ground fortifications, or bunkers, and the round should also be capable of neutralizing enemy infantry;
- the fuse should offer on-impact, delayed, and airburst detonation.
It seems that Rheinmetall’s DM11 is the sole round that meets the requirements defined by the Armament Agency. Other types of ammo available either do not meet the Leopard 2PL data connector compatibility (like the US-made XM1147 AMP), or they would require further modifications (Israeli M339 round, where Data Setting Module, separate from the SKO, is used for programming). Currently, we don’t know whether the French IM3M round would be compatible with the Rh-120 L/44 gun with data connector and FCS used in Leopard 2PL.
Photo. Rheinmetall
What is relevant, the DM11 round used to be used as Mk 324 Mod. 0 HEMP-T by the USMC, with the M1A1FEP Abrams MBT. Lately, the Polish Ministry of Defence procured 116 MBTs as such, following a general overhaul performed for the Polish Armed Forces. If the Ministry decides to procure rounds as such for Leopard 2PL main battle tanks, they would also be compatible with the Abrams MBTs operated by the 1st „Warszawska” Armoured Brigade.
The submissions and requests to participate in the preliminary market consultation can be sent to the MoD’s Armament Agency by 16th August this year. The whole procurement process would last until September 30th.