With the AbramsX, the American General Dynamics wants to respond to the KF-51 Panther German and K2 Black Panther South Korean

Following the Cold War, many were those who predicted the end of the battle tank in future engagements. For many experts, indeed, the progress of anti-tank infantry weapons as well as the arrival of new threats such as drones and prowling ammunition, made heavy armor too vulnerable on the battlefield, at least in comparison. rising prices of these steel monsters. The two wars in Iraq, Chechnya and the war in Nagorno Karabakh indeed seemed to attest to this increased vulnerability, and most of the world's armies have considerably reduced the size of their tank fleets, sometimes to the point of considering remove completely as was the case for a time in Canada. Despite the heavy losses recorded on both sides by the tank fleets during the war in Ukraine, the latter demonstrated, however, in an indisputable way, that the heavy tank still remains today, and in spite of the threats, the pivot of the land offensive and defensive manoeuvre. In fact, in a dynamic already started upstream of this war, many armed forces, including in Europe, undertook to modernize or even extend their fleets of tanks, the Russian attack against Ukraine having acted as an accelerator/ multiplier of this dynamic.

However, if demand is growing rapidly, the offer remains strongly influenced by models developed in the 70s and 80s, such as the American Abrams, the Leopard 2, the British Challenger and the French Leclerc, as well as the Russian T-72, 80 and 90 and the Chinese Type 99, in largely modernized versions. To date, only one model of modern heavy tank of recent design is actually offered on the Western market, the K2 Black Panther from the South Korean Hyundai Rotem, a newcomer to this market which is already carving out significant market shares, as was the case by signing a contract for 180 armored vehicles for Poland, with the prospect of co-producing 750 additional tanks, the largest heavy tank contract in the last 20 years. Legacy models have also found color on the international market, notably the American M1A2 Abrams retained by Poland, Australia and Taiwan, the Leopard 2 in Hungary, or the Russian T-90 in India and Egypt. But it is indeed K2 which is attracting attention today, the South Korean armored vehicle often being presented as the favorite in competitions in Norway and Egypt. Paradoxically, the two major programs aimed at replacing Western tanks, the Franco-German Main Ground Combat System and the program aimed at replacing the American Abrams, only plan to deliver the first armored vehicles beyond 2035.

It is precisely in this niche that the German Rheinmetall has positioned itself with the KF-51. Panther, a tank presented at the Eurosatory 2022 show which hit the headlines, including across the Atlantic. Summary of the developments available to date, the Panther is presented by its designer as ready for production, and even as an alternative to the ambitious but expensive Franco-German MGCS program, not without many industrial ulterior motives it is true. It is in this same intermediate niche that the American General Dynamics, designer of the famous Abrams but also of the Stryker armored vehicle, also intends to position itself with the AbramsX, a concept that will be presented at the AUSA show which will be held in the suburbs of Washington from October 10 to 12, 2022.

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