| Panther KF51 | |
|---|---|
 Rheinmetall Panther KF51 | |
| Type | Main battle tank |
| Place of origin | Germany |
| Service history | |
| In service | Not yet in service |
| Production history | |
| Designer | Rheinmetall |
| Designed | Commenced 2016 |
| Specifications (Hull) | |
| Mass | 59 tonnes (58 long tons; 65 short tons) |
| Length | 7.8 m (10 m withtank gun) |
| Width | 3.7 m |
| Height | 2.5 m |
| Crew | 3–4
|
| Armour | Composite armour,reactive armour andactive protection systems (StrikeShield) |
Main armament | Rh-130 L/52 130 mmsmoothbore cannon (up to 20 rounds)[1] |
Secondary armament | 12.7 mm coaxial machine gun (250 rounds), 7.62 mm 'Natter'RCWS (2,500 rounds)[1] |
| Engine | MTU MB 873 Ka-501 V-12 water-cooled diesel 1,500 PS |
| Power/weight | 25.4 PS/t |
| Transmission | Renk HSWL 354 |
| Suspension | Torsion bar |
| Fuel capacity | 1,100 L (242 imp gal; 291 US gal) |
| Maximum speed | 70 kilometres per hour (43 mph) |
ThePanther KF51 (KF is short forGerman "Kettenfahrzeug"lit. 'tracked vehicle') is a Germanfourth-generationmain battle tank (MBT) that is under development byRheinmetall. It was unveiled publicly at theEurosatory defence exhibition on 13 June 2022.[2][3] Different variants of the Panther KF51 are being co-developed by Rheinmetall with N7 inHungary andLeonardo inItaly.
The KF51 is based on the hull of theLeopard 2A4,[4] but with a new turret mounting anautoloaded 130 mmmain gun.[4] On 5 December 2022, Rheinmetall announced its plans to target mostly existingLeopard 2 operators with the KF51.[5]
Rheinmetall began the development of major subsystems for the Panther in 2016, with system-level design commencing in 2018. The Panther was developed as a private venture by Rheinmetall to demonstrate by 2026[4] the potential for increasing the lethality, mobility, survivability, and networking capabilities of MBTs without incurring a significant increase in weight. To reduce the weight of the Leopard 2A4 platform on which the development vehicle was based, Rheinmetall prioritised active over passive protection.[4]
Further developments under consideration for the vehicle include measures to make it more environmentally friendly during peacetime operations; the installation of a more powerful and more efficient engine; the integration ofAI into the fire control system for automated target detection and identification; mounting an unmanned turret on the vehicle; and the creation of an unmanned version of the Panther. Efforts to make the tank more environmentally friendly could result in an alternative hull being developed for the Panther.[4]
In August 2023,Viktor Orban announced in aTikTok[6] video that the Hungarian government would join in the development of the KF51. He stated, "We are producingLynxes, purchasingLeopards, and participating in the development of the Panther."[7] According to some news agencies, the Hungarian government was planning to invest €300 million into the development and production of the KF51 Panther tank.[8] According to Armin Papperger, the CEO ofRheinmetall AG, the development contract was signed with the Hungarian government in early September 2023,[9] with production of the KF51 Panther possibly planned in the newly constructed Rheinmetall factory inZalaegerszeg.
On 9 October 2025, Rheinmetall announced that the Hungarian Investment Promotion Agency would invest €1.4 million in the company's Zalaegerszeg facility. The money would be used to increase production and development capacity for the KF41 Lynx and KF51 Panther.[10]
The current KF51 demonstrator is based on the hull of the Leopard 2A4 and thus has a conventional MBT layout, with the driver at the front, the turret in the middle and the engine at the rear. The driver is seated in the front right of the hull and is provided with a single-piece hatch above their position in the roof of the glacis plate. A separate crew station can be provided in the left front of the hull for either a dedicated systems operator or a unit commander. Colour cameras for the driver are installed in the centre of the front and rear of the hull.[4]
The Panther provides all crew members except the gunner with standardized crew stations, each featuring a large central 23-inch display screen and two smaller 10-inch displays below that.[11] Two further screens are mounted to the left and right of the operator respectively, displaying the view from the left and right situational awareness cameras.[12] Due to the demonstrator turret utilizing a version of the Leopard 2'sEMES 15 gunner's sight, the gunner's place is slightly different.[11]The use of standardized crew stations and drive-by-wire technology means that every crew member can take over every role, e.g. in theory the tank can also be driven by the commander and the gun can be fired by the driver.[12][13]
Where the design of the KF51 departs from that of the preceding generation of most Western MBTs is by the introduction of a new two-person turret fitted with an autoloaded main gun. The rear of the turret houses the magazines for the main gun's automatic loader and pods forloitering munitions if these have been equipped. There are housings for cameras on all four corners of the turret and in the middle of each side of the turret.[1]
The Panther is not intended to be a competitor to theMain Ground Combat System (MGCS) but meant to bridge the gap until the MGCS becomes available[12] Being designed to be more affordable, Rheinmetall also believes that it will find a market besides the MGCS.[12] Should the KF51 enter production, a new hull would be designed by Rheinmetall.[4] Meanwhile, the Panther turret can be fitted onto a Leopard 2 tank as upgrade option.[13]
The current KF51 demonstrator is based on the hull of the Leopard 2A4 and thus has a conventional MBT layout, with the driver at the front, the turret in the middle and the engine at the rear. The driver is seated in the front right of the hull and is provided with a single-piece hatch above their position in the roof of theglacis plate. A separate crew station can be provided in the left front of the hull for either a dedicated systems operator or a unit commander. Colour cameras for the driver are installed in the centre of the front and rear of the hull.[4]
The engine, tracks and most of the running gear of the vehicle are also believed to have been derived from those of the Leopard 2. The Leopard 2's engine is anMTU MB 873 Ka-501 water-cooled V12 diesel engine producing 1,100 kilowatts (1,500 hp) at 2,600 rpm, coupled to aRenk HSWL 354 four-speed automatic transmission. The running gear of Leopard 2A4 consists of seven dual-tired rubber road wheels and four rubber-tired offset track return rollers on each side, with the idler at the front and the drive sprocket at the rear. The road wheels are supported bytorsion bar suspension with advanced friction dampers. The first, second, third, sixth, and seventh road wheels feature advanced friction dampers and hydraulic bump stops to dampen oscillations, with the fourth and fifth fitted with solid bump stops. The KF51 is fitted with an 82-link Defence Service Tracks 570F track of 635 mm width with rubber-bushed end connectors on each side.
The KF51 Panther uses a Leopard 2 hull structure, running gear and power pack, to make the switch from Leopard 2 easier.[12] At a weight of 59 tons, the Panther has a top speed of 70 kilometres per hour (43 mph) forward and 30 kilometres per hour (19 mph) backward.[12] It can accelerate from 0 to 40 kilometres per hour (25 mph) in 8 seconds.[12] It has a maximum range of 500 km.[4] The Panther has a combat weight of 59 tonnes, making it lighter than most Western MBTs. Due to its lower weight and physical size, the KF51 Panther fits within the railroad tunnel profile AmovP-4l.[12]
The production variants of the Panther will utilize new hull designed by Rheinmetall.[4] For the Hungarian Panther EVO variant, it was announced that the new hull would be derived from the Bergepanzer 3 Büffel.[14] Rheinmetall has apparently developed its own version of the Leopard 2 hull, free of KNDS intellectual property, for the Bergepanzer 3A2 Büffel variant.[15] By using this new hull for the Bergepanzer 3A2, it would be tested and qualified by the German Bundeswehr.[15]
During the development of the KF51 Panther, a main goal of Rheinmetall's engineers was to minimize the sensor-to-shooter time gap; hence the Panther employs an AI-powered pixel change algorithm to automatically detect targets when static and on the move.[16] The Panther demonstrator turret is fitted with the SEOSS 300 commander's sight and a variant of the EMES 15 gunner's sight also found on the Leopard 2 tank.[13] The EMES sight has a new, fixed digital binocular sight, while work on integrating a dual thermal channel operating in both the long-wavelength and mid-wavelengthinfrared spectrums was being carried out in 2023.[16]
Six SCM60 day and night digital see-through-armour system modules are mounted around the turret, providing a 360° situational awareness for the crew members.[16] The system is already fielded on the Boxer CRV, Lynx andPuma IFV.[16] For further situational awareness, an acoustic shooter locating system and laser warning receivers are installed on the KF51 Panther as well.[16] All information is fused in a central computer system and provided to the crew. To detect drones, flat AESA radar panels could be installed on the turret.[16]
The KF51 Panther is equipped with abattlefield management system and digital radios for controlling UAVs and UGVs. It is designed with an open digital architecture implementing the NGVA standard[16] Each customer of the Panther has great influence on the selection of sub-components such as BMS, radio, RCWS and others. In these aspects, the Panther was designed to be modular to be adaptable to customer requirements.[12]
For additional short range reconnaissance purposes, the KF51 Panther demonstrator turret includes launching bays for two small Stinger quadcopter, i.e. short-range UAVs, developed in cooperation with BärDrones.[11] They have a 20-30 minute flight time and could be fitted with a small 200 grams (7.1 oz) warhead for combat purposes.[16]
The primary armament of the KF51 is a stabilisedRheinmetall Rh-130 L/52 130 mmsmoothbore gun that can be elevated from −9˚ to +20˚. Rheinmetall claims that this is capable of delivering between 18 and 20 megajoules (13,000,000 and 15,000,000 foot-pounds force) of energy onto a target and has a 50% longer effective range than Rheinmetall's 120 mm tank guns. The Rh-130 can firearmour-piercing fin-stabilized discarding sabot (APFSDS) ammunition, programmableair burst high-explosive (HE) rounds andpractice projectiles.[4]
Themain gun is fed by anautoloader that consists of two conveyor-based magazines with a capacity of ten rounds each. Up to 10 further rounds can be carried on the tank.[13] During a test firing in April 2022, the Rh-130 mounted on a test rig was able to fire three rounds in 16 seconds, though this included the time to perform safety checks. Two hatches are located in the turret sides to allow the autoloader's magazines to be replenished within five minutes. An option is available to carry an additional 10 rounds on the back of the vehicle outside of the hull and turret.[4]
The autoloader was designed by the Swiss subsidiary of Rheinmetall,Rheinmetall Air Defence in Oerlikon, Zurich.[17] The turret drive stabilisation system and the hand controllers will be supplied by the Swiss subsidiary ofCurtiss-Wright, the system was selected by Rheinmetall in August 2025.[18]
The secondary armament consists of acoaxially mounted 12.7 mm machine gun. Rheinmetall's 'Natter'remote controlled weapon station (RCWS) with a 7.62 mm machine gun (can be elevated from −15˚ to +85˚ and can carry 2,500 rounds of ammunition) can be mounted on the rear of the turret roof to provide close-in defence and acounter-unmanned aircraft system(C-UAS) capability.The combination of commander's sight and RWS enables so-called hunter-killer and killer-killer operations.[13]
The Panther's Advanced Mission Pod concept allows replacing either one or both magazines of the autoloader with specialized mission pods. These pods have the same size as the RAMP anti-tank missile launcher used on the Lance 2.0 turret used on the Lynx KF41 andBoxer CRV.[16] At Eurosatory 2022, Rheinmetall showcased two options for mission pods: a quadruple launcher for the HERO 120 loitering munition from UVision[1][13][11] and a mission pod carrying 13 UAVs.
The UAV pod mission pod was developed in cooperation with BärDrones.[19] It carries a larger reconnaissance quadcopter that has a flight time of 50 minutes and automatically connects its battery for recharging after landing on the Panther.[19] The bottom of the pod contains hydropneumatic launch tubes for twelve smaller Stinger drones.[19] Those are micro-UAVs and have 20-30 minute flight time, 90 kilometres per hour (56 mph) top speed and the capacity to carry a 200 grams (7.1 oz) warhead.[16][19]
In order to stay at a low mass, the KF51 Panther utilizes a hybrid protection concept, combining passive, reactive and active protection systems.[20] The innermost layer consists of the all-welded steel structure covered by passive composite armour modules. The second layer comprises sensor-fusedreactive armour, while the final layer consists ofactive protection system.
As hard-kill active protection system, Rheinmetall utilizes itsStrikeShield system, which is capable of defeatinganti-tank guided missiles,rocket-propelled grenades andkinetic energy penetrators, using an "energy blade".[20] The KE penetrators are usually broken into 2 to 4 pieces when hit by the StrikeShield APS, dispersing the kinetic energy over a larger impact area and thus significantly reducing their penetration capacity.[20]
As shaped charge threats can be defeated more easily by active protection systems, while KE penetrators retain a larger amount of residual penetration, the Panther's passive armour is optimized for defeating KE rounds.[12] In 2023, Rheinmetall considered the integration of a second, launcher-based APS to given the high potential of such a system to defeat top-attack threats. The company stated that in a future iteration, the Panther could receive such a system.[12] On the KF51-U demonstrator, the Iron Fist hard-kill system[21] and theMUSS 2.0 soft-kill system are fitted to the turret, while StrikeShield modules are installed on the hull.[22]
Assoft-kill measures, the Panther is fitted with eight Rheinmetall Rapid Obscuring System (ROSY)smoke grenade launchers mounted in staggered rows of two behind the central camera housing on each side of the turret. The Panther's sensors can detect the launch signature of ATGMs and anti-tank missiles and cue the crew towards the threat.
To defeat drones and other source of top-attack threats, the Panther features the Top Attack Protection Systems (TAPS). TAPS utilizes different soft-kill and hard-kill effectors and sensors. As of 2023, the core of the TAPS was developed, but the exact choice of effectors was still open.[20]
In June 2024, Rheinmetall presented the KF51-U at the Eurosatory defence fair.[21] It uses a modified version of the original Panther demonstrator hull fitted with the Concept Unmanned Turret (CUT).[21][23][24] Its three-men crew sits in the hull just in front of the turret.[21] The KF51-U retains the 130 mm smoothbore gun and 20 round autoloader from two magazines, but can carry a further 5 spare rounds in the turret. As secondary armament, the KF51-U has a coaxial 12.7 mm heavy machine gun and a7.62 mm RMG as Main Sensor Slaved Armament (MSSA).[21][25][24] The main gun has a maximum depression of -9° and a maximum elevation of +20°.[24]
Unlike other unmanned turrets, the KF51-U's CUT is understood to feature 'good' protection while being 10 to 20% lighter than the manned Panther turret, which accounts for more than 1,000 kilograms (2,200 lb) lower weight.[21] The combat weight of the tank is somewhere between 50 and 60 tonnes.[23] In addition to the StrikeShield system mounted on the hull, the KF51-U is also fitted with the Iron Fist and MUSS 2.0 active protection systems.[21][23][24] Additionally, the ROSY_VL system is installed on top of the turret for protection against top-attack missiles and drones.[21]
Both the gunner and commander are provided with newer SEOSS 400 sights, which offer improved performance and greater detection ranges than the previous SEOSS 300 and EMES 15 sights used in the Panther demonstrator turret.[21][23] The SEOSS 400 sight was presented in detail at theDSEI 2025 exhibition.[26] It features larger, 5megapixel CCD and MWIR sensors, increasing identification range of tank-sized targets to above 6 kilometres (3.7 mi).[26]The commander's SEOSS 400 sight acts as optic for the MSSA system, which also includes a counter-UAS radar to detect and track drones.[21]
ThePanther EVO Upgrade was first presented to the public at the Eurosatory in June 2024.[21] While the hull of the Panther demonstrator was re-used for the KF51-U variant, the Panther KF51 turret was fitted to a Leopard 2A4 chassis.[27] This showcases the potential to upgrade existing Leopard 2 tanks with the Panther turret. It is armed with Rheinmetall's 120 mm L55A1 smoothbore gun but can be up-gunned with the 130 mm Future Gun System (FGS) instead.[21][27] Coaxial armament consits of a 12.7 mm heavy machine gun.[28] The 'Natter'RCWS was removed from the turret.
At the MSPO 2024 international defence exhibition in Kielce, Poland, the same tank was showcased under the nameLeopard 2A4 Panther Upgrade,[29] again armed with a 120 mm L/55A1 gun.[27]
The variant to be built in Hungary, with the 120 mm L/55A1 cannon (found also on the Leopard 2A7HU tank) and a hull derived from theBergepanzer 3 'Büffel' chassis.[14]
Among the requirements of the Italian Army are 140 support tanks, of which some will be armoured recovery vehicles that will replace theBergepanzer 2 based on theLeopard 1.[30]
Among the requirements of the Italian Army are 140 support tanks, of which some will be armoured recovery vehicles that will replace thePionierpanzer 1 based on theLeopard 1.[30]
Among the requirements of the Italian Army are 140 support tanks, of which some will be armoured recovery vehicles that will replace theBiber based on theLeopard 1.[30]
Hungary: On 15 December 2023, Rheinmetall announced that the company had signed a contract worth €288 million with the Hungarian government to develop thePanther KF51 EVO variant with the 120 mm L/55A1 cannon and a hull based on theBergepanzer 3 chassis.[14]
Italy: After failing to reach an agreement withKNDS over the procurement and domestic production of newLeopard 2A8 tanks and support vehicles, on 3 July 2024, Rheinmetall andLeonardo announced they would establish a 50:50 joint venture to produce KF51 tanks and infantry fighting vehicles as part of theItalian Army Main Battle Tank (MBT) and Armoured Infantry Combat System (AICS) programs. The joint venture would also assist in defining a roadmap for future involvement of both companies in theMain Ground Combat System project.[31][32] On January 16, 2025, theItalian Ministry of Defence announced at the IAV 2025 conference plans to procure up to 380 new vehicles based on the KF51 Panther platform, including recovery, rescue, and engineering variants, to improve the lethality, mobility, and survivability of its mechanized forces. To replace the aging C1 and C2Ariete tanks, the KF51 will be adapted to meet the specific operational requirements of theItalian Army. Additionally, over 1,000 infantry fighting vehicles (IFVs) based on Rheinmetall'sKF41 Lynx platform will be acquired as part of an extensive modernization program and partnership with Rheinmetall. The overall budget for this initiative is expected to exceed €10 billion.[33]
Ukraine: In February 2023, Rheinmetall revealed they were in talks withUkraine to supply KF51s Panthers (and KF41 Lynx IFVs) to the Ukrainian military.[34][35] Rheinmetall's CEO Armin Papperger said that a new factory could be built in the country (with Rheinmetall estimating the cost of constructing a Ukrainian plant to be around €200 million) and the first delivery could be in 15 to 18 months, producing annually up to 400 Panther tanks.[36] In October 2023, a joint venture was formally signed between Rheinmetall and Ukroboronprom to establish an armored vehicle repair and construction facility first to produceFuchs vehicles within 6–7 months and Lynx IFVs within 12–13 months,[37] with production of Panther KF51 to begin afterwards.[38] The facility began production of the first KF41 Lynx vehicles in October 2024, consistent with initial timeline estimates.[39] It is unclear whether Ukraine will produce the same KF51 EVO version being developed in Hungary, or a new domestic variant.
Romania: Rheinmetall has proposed the KF51 for the second phase of Romania's tank program valued at €6.5 billion, which includes the acquisition of 216 tanks. The other participants in the program are theK2 Black Panther offered byHyundai Rotem and theLeopard 2A8 offered byKraussMaffei.[40] As imposed by the contract, the production and maintenance of the tanks will be carried out in Romania.[41]| Main battle | |
|---|---|
| Light /medium | |
| Prototypes, experimentals | |
Background:History of the tank,Tank classification | |
