SH_MM

The text just says 𝕾𝖕𝖊𝖟𝖎𝖆𝖑𝖊𝖎𝖓𝖘𝖆𝖙𝖟𝖐𝖔𝖒𝖒𝖆𝖓𝖉𝖔 𝕾𝖆𝖈𝖍𝖘𝖊𝖓 (Spezialeinsatzkommando Sachsen, "(police) special force unit of Saxony"). The problem is not the text itself, but how it is presented. First of all the Fraktur (old German scripture, also used in Norway for some time) has not been used since the Third Reich, although aesthetically pleasing (at least better than Comic Sans MS), most of the times it is being used by neo-Nazis. The Fraktur script was officially abandoned during the WW2, because people in occupied/conquered countries had a hard time reading it (and one of the most popular fronts apparently was designed by a jew). Given that the state of Saxony has the highest amount of Nazis relative to its size (at least the neo-Nazi party has gotten the best results in Saxony), people are worried about the special forces (i.e. the Saxon equivalent of SWAT) using text commonly associated with Nazis. The logo only supports the worries, because it consists of three parts: the center part is a variant of the coat of arms of the Kindgom of Saxony, which is not being used anymore. The new coat of arms was adopted in 1990, before that were 45 years of socialist/communist rule, where such evil imperialistic signs weren't used. So the last time a similar coat of arms was used was... during the Nazi reign, before Hitler decided to restructure Germany and remove all states in favor of a Gau-based system. the center is surrounded by oak leaves (Eichenlaub). While today still in use with the German government (for example on several Euro cent coins imprinted in Germany, aswell as the beret insignia of the German military), it was even more common during the Nazi rule of Germany. E.g. most military decorations such as the Iron Cross included oak leaves in the higher versions. for some people the "wings" are too reminiscent of the Nazi variant of the Reichsadler Please note that this is not the official logo, neither is it common within the police to use Fraktur script. So essentially a lot of people are accusing the "SWAT of Saxony" to either be Nazis or to support them. The Ministry of Interior of Saxony has released a statement, claiming that this is an internal logo created in 1991 by a West-German police officer who switched to Saxony, while the font for the text wasn't officially approved (originally there was no text planned, but Rheinmetall offered to stitch a text of the police unit's choice onto the seats free of charge). Overall it is hard to say what is the truth. There have been cases of Nazis getting suprisingly far within the German police, specifically in the state police (resulting in a police special forces member being fired for having Nazi tatoos, who then sued the corresponding state but failed). On the other hand it could be a lot of (random) incidents; none of the criticized aspects is actually a proof of them being Nazis.

The police/state of Saxony is being accused of tolerating policemen with Nazi ideology based on the stitching on the seats of their survivor:

The Leopard 2A6EX was fitted with the MTU 883 engine. As already said, Germany is interested in adopting a 1,200 kW engine on a follow-up upgrade to the Leopard 2A7V. In theory this could be a MTU 883 or an even more compact 893 engine.

Danish Leopard 2A7: Note the applique armor plate at the lower hull front. This is new compared to the original tank:

additional armor module on the hull front improved torsion bars with a maximum qualified weight of 70 metric tons L55A1 gun (only some tanks) changed final drive ratio (slightly lower top speed, but higher acceleration) third gen thermal imager with high resolution integrated into the gunner's sight improved laser rangefinder with greater range new air conditioning system with integrated NBC protection system (the air conditioning adopted with the 2A7 upgrade requires a separate NBC protection system; however the old NBC protection system is kept to serve as air conditioning system for the driver) new ammo racks to hold the heavier DM11 HE-ABM ammo (on 2A7 this ammo could only be stored in certain racks) total refurbishment of all engines

No idea, but it might be the same ammo already in use with the PT-91. The old T-72 tanks might still be fitted with the old 2A46(-1) gun, which has a lower pressure limit than the 2A46M(S) (e.g. 5,100 bar vs 6,500 bar according to Fofanov). However the development/introduction of a newer APFSDS type should also be an option.

Jordan is getting a second batch of 25 Marders according to Jane's Defence Weekly: Regarding last deal - https://below-the-turret-ring.blogspot.de/2016/12/marders-to-jordan.html

http://www.janes.com/article/76333/poland-to-upgrade-t-72-tanks-and-dana-sphs Seems like PT-16 and PT-17 demonstrattors are not liked by the Polish military, instead the PT-91M2 will be introduced (as upgrade of old T-72 tanks).

It is part of the combat simulation system for training. The system has the odd name "GAMER" and is made by SAAB. On the other side of the main gun is the Xtruder LED searchlight from WiseLED.

The UAE ordered ERA packages from the German manufacturer Dynamit Nobel Defence, which also provides ERA for the Puma. This Leclerc seems to be fitted with such ERA. As you can see at 1:15, the DND ERA also covers the rear of the turret.

The Danish military ordered the upgrade of of 38 Leopard 2A5DK tanks. Only 16 of these will be upgraded to the full Leopard 2A7(V) configuration including the new high-pressure L/55A1 tank gun and a mine protection plate. The rest of the tanks will undergo a basic upgrade only, but retain the L/44 gun and lack any sort of new anti-mine plating below the hull's belly. Posted a few weeks ago in this topic: Looks like a gun-firing simulator device, it can also be seen on other tanks: (empty) (more than half full) It is the same frontal armor as fitted to the Leopard 2 KVT and subsequent new production models (Strv 122, Leopardo 2E, Leopard 2A6HEL); however the Leopard 2A5DK tanks were originally Leopard 2A4 tanks from the German Army. The Danish military is the only one who adopted this armor when upgrading older tanks. The German Leopard 2A7V prototype from Eurosatory has similar armor, but with more (and smaller) screws. Also the armor is segmented in three pieces, so I believe that the hull armor is slightly different - the armor composition might be the same, but it is mounted in a different manner: As you can see in one of the earlier pictures of a 2A5DK tank, this "barrel extension" is fitted during training sometimes and probably is part of the gun-firing simulator equipment.

Strv 122

Probably something like 90°, Elbit proposes four sensors for a 360° coverage (therefore the British Ajax has four ELWAS sensors)

The Förderkreis Heer, an association focused on the German military that includes members of politics, members of the military and key members of the industry (hence some call it a lobby), has published its latest newsletter. This document includes an article written by the Mathias Kraus, the head of sales of PSM, regarding the Czech IFV program, in which PSM's Puma and Rheinmetall's Lynx were involved. The most important aspects are: The Puma was the only vehicle that participated in the trials in a full series configuration, including radios, battlefield mangement systems, crew equipment and tools. All other vehicles lacked some of the normal equipment. During the firing tests (done at the ranges 1,200 and 1,800 metres), the Puma was the only vehicle to hit all targets. The Czech requirements saw each vehicle firing a five round burst, but it was really windy. The Puma hit 37 out of 40 rounds, the second best vehicle supposedly managed to hit about half as many targets only. Reliability was an issue for all vehicles except the Puma; it was the only vehicle which didn't have to repeat a test because some relevant component failed. However it is not mentioned wether non-relevant components failed on the Puma. Already before the trials, Germany and the Czech Republic decided to deepen relations. On the 15th of February 2017 the ministers of defence of both states signed a memorandum of understanding regarding this topic, which also includes the Czech 4th Rapid Deployment Brigade being subordinated to the German 10th Tank Division. Other Eastern-European countries are looking for a new IFV, selling the Puma to the Czech Republic might persuade them to follow. That said: as PSM is selling the Puma, one has to be critical of their claims.

Ever wondered about Monopoly's lack of tanks? Does this make the game boring? Worry no more! The German tank museum has created a version of Monopoly with tanks. The post-it note says "approved for production"...

Source

That's quite a large hole in the upper front plate. Must have been a large calibre ATGM.

Apparently Poland is developing a new MBT. I am not entirely sure if they already have chosen any contractors/partners, but the Polish website Defence24.pl has published articles/interviews with representatives from different European defence companies. According to Rheinmetall's Otmar Schlutheis, if Rheinmetall was chosen as the main contractor/partner to develop the new tank, it would be "Polish", despite the projections from the company suggesting it to be based on Rheinmetall's ideas and Rheinmetall's concepts, while being fitted with technology from Rheinmetall (that's essentially the output of Google Translator). The Polish industry still should be involved. Core work would still be carried out in Germany by Rheinmetall, but they would integrate Polish-made components if desired. The production of the whole tank or only a limited amount of components could be outsourced to Poland http://www.defence24.pl/703490,nowy-czolg-dla-polski-oparty-na-rozwiazaniach-rheinmetall-defence24pl-tv BAE Systems is suggesting a lighter tank. Mobility and situational awareness would matter more than armor protection. The lower weight would enable the tank to operate in all terrain conditions. Aside of passive armor, the BAE proposal includes active protection systems to protect the vehicle. Transfer of technology is offered. http://www.defence24.pl/703506,bae-systems-przyszly-czolg-bedzie-lekki-i-mobilny-defence24pl-tv

That's quite interesting. As far as I know, there aren't really any modern (i.e. 2A6/2A7) Leopard 2 tanks available for loan or leasing. Germany doesn't seem to be interested in giving tanks away considering that they are upgrading older tanks and want to increase then German tank fleet. The Netherlands have sold most of their 180 Leopard 2A6 tanks to Canada (20), Portugal (37) and Finland (100) - all these countries don't . The 16 last Dutch Leopard 2A6 tanks were incorporated into the German army (together with 2 tanks loaned from Germany they are operated by Dutch crews). That leaves only Greece with 170 Leopard 2A6 and Spain with 219 as other sources of the Leopard 2A6. The Leopard 2A5 is only operated by Poland, Sweden and Denmark, all these countries are currently upgrading/enlarging their tank fleets. The market for new leased/loaned tanks isn't really there. The M1 Abrams might be available - and maybe the Leclerc tank. I can imagine that the German industry manages to persuade the government for some kind of odd deal, that would end in Norway being offered German 2A6 tanks, while the Norwegian Leopard 2A4 tanks then are added to the Leopard 2A7V upgrade. In the end we have loaned/leased Leopard 2 tanks to the Netherlands, Canada, Sweden and Spain over the past two/three decades. AFAIK Rheinmetall and KMW still own a few Leopard 2 tanks, so they might upgrade them and offer them in 2019 or they use these tanks to replace the German ones loaned/leased to Norway. The former could mean that Rheinmetall might in theory be able to offer a variant of the Leopard 2 ADT (formerly known as "Revolution" until Rheinmetall saw that some customers - i.e. non-democratic countries or those with instable democracies - might link the word "revolution" to something bad). I don't really know if a Leopard 2 replacement will be ready in 2025. The MGCS might still need a few years, so essentially they have to replace the leased/loaned tanks Leopard 2 tanks (or a version of the Leclerc/Abrams). ___ On an unrelated note: Austrian Leopard 2A4 "upgrades" Leopard 2A4 for riot controll Leopard 2A4 with shield for the loader ... and the latest upgrade: Leopard 2 with new external storage racks! Each tank made as limited edition (one piece per upgrade).

The Survivor R is actually based on a Rheinmetall MAN truck, but was developed by the Austrian company Achtleitner Fahrzeugbau. Achtleitner asked Rheinmetall to provide a base for the Survivor, Rheinmetall then decided to join into the project, creating its own variant of the Survivor. The Survivor (no "R") from Achtleitner has been adopted by some German police (SWAT-type) teams, others have chosen the Survivor R. The Survivor seems to have thinner armor, gun ports in the windows and wire mesh covering all glass surfaces. Both companies are competing on the German market with essentially the same vehicle in slightly different versions.

The side armor configuration is also different... maybe they re-used an older prototype... For comparison:

According to the Czech military news website/blog Armádní Noviny, the negotiations on buying the Puma IFV are going well. The German companies responsible for the Puma have met with more than 30 potential Czech partners to discuss possible work-share and future cooperation. About 35 billion Czech Koruna (€~1.3 billion) worth of contracts could in theory be awarded to local companies. This could then lead to further cooperation, if the Czech Army opts for adopting the Leopard 2 and Panzerhaubitze 2000.

http://www.janes.com/article/75743/challenger-2-trialled-with-rosy-iron-fist-aps

No, the figure is misleading. Only 36 (16 Leopard 2A6 and 20 Leopard 2A7 tanks) will be upgraded to the 2A7V configuration, but also 62 Leopard 2A4 tanks. The number used in the report (57 tanks) includes the parallel upgrade of Leopard 2A6M tanks to the Leopard 2A6M+ configuration. Of the 36 2A6 & 2A7 tanks to be upgraded to the Leopard 2A7V, the majority remains still in service and will be upgraded later (in fact 18 of the 20 Leopard 2A7 tanks will be the last tanks to receive the upgrade!). At the same time 68 Leopard 2A4 tanks are also being upgraded, the upgrade of these tanks takes longer (because more work has to be done), but AFAIK at least some of them have already been sent to the industry. France ordered the upgrade of 200 Leclerc tanks in 2015 as part of SCORPION programme. The number of active tanks is probably be greater. The United Kingdom has only 227 Challenger 2 tanks left in inventory, of which 168 tanks are belonging to active units; probably a few of these are in need of repair. After the introduction of the Ajax, the British Army might downsize from three active tank battalions to only two. Belgium has given up on tanks. They never bought a modern tank (only Leopard 1s) and decided against modernizing them in the late 1990s/early 2000s. Instead Belgium operates a handful of Piranha IIIC 8x8 vehicles, of which 40 are armed with a 90 mm gun, while 32 are armed with a 30 mm ATK Mk44 gun. Poland has one of the largest tank fleets in Europe, consisting of 247 Leopard 2 tanks (of which half are supposed to be modernized by Rheinmetall & Obrum to the new Leopard 2PL variant), some 230-240 PT-91 tanks and more than 150 operational T-72 tanks. The The US military has some ~2,000 M1A1/M1A2 Abrams tanks in active units with a similar amount of modern tanks in reserve/storage. I haven't kept up with the latest US Army plans, but supposedly they want to have something between 10 and 17 armored brigade combat teams (ABCT). Latest informations suggests that there were 14 ABCTs in 2016 with a new (15th) ABCT being set up in October 2017. Each ABCT has 90 M1A1/M1A2 Abrams tanks, hence there should be 1,350 Abrams tanks operated by the Army. The National Guard has either 5 or 6 ABCTs (there were originally six, but one was deactivated in 2016), adding 450-540 M1A1/M1A2 Abrams tanks over the Army's operational tank fleet. Supposedly the USMC bought a total of 403 M1A1 tanks, but it appears that not all are operational. Incomplete list: Germany (50 Leopard 2A6M+, 104 Leopard 2A7V), Poland (128 Leopard 2PL, PT-91M2 amount TBD), Denmark (38 tanks to Leopard 2A7/V), France (200 Leclerc Scorpion XLR), UK (Challenger 2 LEP bidding under way, amount TBD), Russia (T-90M), US Army (90 M1A2 SEP v2 to be fitted with Trophy, M1A2 SEP v3), Indonesia (Leopard 2RI) etc. In factory are German tanks for conversion to Leopard 2A6M+/2A7V tanks, Leclerc tanks,Polish 2A4 tanks to become Leopard 2PLs and probably the M1A2 SEP v2 aswell as maybe the Danish tanks. Rheinmetall has been upgrading 2A4 tanks to the Leopard 2RI configuration for Indonesia, I don't know if they finished this contract already. Also Russia might have already started upgrading the T-90A to the T-90M variant. Those are not all 2A7V tanks. This is a mixed value, most of the tanks are understood to be Leopard 2A6M tanks being upgraded to the 2A6M+ model (inofficial name). The Leopard 2A7V deliveries are set to begin in 2019. The very first two of these tanks are taken from the 20 Leopard 2A7 tanks and will be used for testing if everything works as expected. After these two initial Leopard 2A7Vs, the next 16 will be created from Leopard 2A6 tanks, which will be ready for service in 2020. Directly after the conversions of the 2A6 tanks are finished, 68 Leopard 2A4 tanks will be converted to the Leopard 2A7V. The last remaining 18 Leopard 2A7 tanks are scheduled for the 2A7V upgrade after the Leopard 2A4 tanks. 68 Leopard 2A4 tanks will be converted to the 2A7V configuration. 32 tanks will remain in the Army's stock for conversion to support vehicles (recovery vehicles, engineering vehicles, bridgelayers), used as spare parts or upgraded at a later time (if there is a requirement for a larger tank fleet); AFAIK the final decision hasn't been made yet.