Swiss Leopard 2 (Pz87) with 140mm gun - Pz.87-140

s_weichbrodt

Active member
It was www.stumbleupon.com that found this for me. A Swiss project that looked at up-gunning their Leopard 2 fleet with a 140mm cannon. Interesting.

A quote from wikipedia

"The Pz 87-140 is an experimental variant of the Swiss Pz 87 with a 140 mm gun and an additional armour later used on the newer production variants."

pz87140mms.jpg
 
Bigger than the Maus' Pak 44 128mm....

But honesty in modern AFV's the ammunition and propellent seems to make all the difference.

Without hordes of Russian tanks swarming the border I don't see how Swiss Military Acquisition personnel are selling this one.

Oh wait it looks cool! Great post my friend.:wink:
 
The Germans were working on a Leopard 2 - 140 quite a while ago.

Leopard 2-140

As the 1990s began, Rheinmetall began developing a 140 mm smoothbore cannon as a future tank cannon. This was intended to counter new developments in Soviet-bloc armoured fighting vehicles, most especially persistent rumours that the next-generation Soviet main battle tank would be armed with either a 135 mm or 152 mm cannon. This program was contemplated as the third stage in the KWS program of modernizing Leopard 2 tanks. KWS I was the replacement of the L44 120 mm cannon with the 55-calibre model, KWS II was a modernization program that became the Leopard 2A5, and KWS III was the development of a new turret including a 140 mm smoothbore weapon system and an automatic loader, which would have resulted in the reduction of the crew size to 3 soldiers. The final project design contained a lateral loading mechanism and had the main gun moved in the left turret side. Ammunition load for the main gun was 32 rounds, which were stored in a large ammunition bunker, covering the full turret rear. Moving the ammunition out of the crew's compartment would have resulted in a higher survivability in case of a penetration. The planned protection level was to be equal to the Leopard 2A5 or better. Command and control of the tank was supposed to be improved by the introduction of the ISIS system in its latest version. The KWS III was not adopted then, but development continued on the 140 mm weapon system, with Rheinmetall coordinating with Royal Ordnance from the UK and GIAT from France. To test out the weapon's capabilities, the 140 mm gun was mounted to a Leopard 2. The tank was not equipped with the new turret armour of the KWS III improvement program, nor with an automatic loader, and it also still had the electro-hydraulic turret drive. To cope with the extra weight of the main gun, counterweights were added to the turret rear. The tests were partially successful, with the gun showing superior penetration power, but also some difficulties with the handling.
 
The (West) Germans developed a very similar vehicle as well, known as the Leopard 2 KW III, also, the United States designed a 140mm tank of their own, the M1 CATTB.
And yes, the USSR designed a tank of their own with a huge (And I mean Sheridan huge) 152mm cannon. Called the Objekt-something
 
The (West) Germans developed a very similar vehicle as well, known as the Leopard 2 KW III, also, the United States designed a 140mm tank of their own, the M1 CATTB.
And yes, the USSR designed a tank of their own with a huge (And I mean Sheridan huge) 152mm cannon. Called the Objekt-something


Object 704? Or Object 268 Maybe?

800px-Object_268.jpg
 
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