The KF51 Panther, the new under-development armored fighting vehicle, was on display at the ceremonial launch event of the German-Hungarian joint venture.Continue reading
Hungary is set to become the first country to equip its armed forces with Rheinmetall’s new Panther tank, reports Handelsblatt.
According to the paper, citing people familiar with the negotiations, the Hungarian government and the German defense company have agreed in principle that the KF51 Panther tank will be fully developed and produced in Hungary.
Handelsblatt recalls that Rheinmetall CEO Armin Papperger presented the Panther last year at an arms fair in Paris as the successor to the Leopard 2. According to the Rheinmetall boss, the Panther is already available, but the vehicle still needs to be improved, for example with a new chassis. The development of Panther starts in partnership with Hungary. As the newspaper reports, Viktor Orbán’s government is paying Rheinmetall around €300 million for the project as things stand.
The Hungarian armed forces would be the first in the world to put the combat vehicles into service, ahead of the German Bundeswehr, which is likely to stick with the Leopard series for the longer term.
It is also noted that the Panther will likely be better than the Leopard 2 in terms of electronic systems, as it will be equipped with drone defense systems and a drone control interface. It will also be significantly cheaper than its predecessor: a KF51 costs $15 million, one-third the price of a new Leopard 2.
NDR: Rheinmetall wird Kampfpanzer „Panther“ offenbar in Ungarn bauen | Regierung will Entwicklungsauftrag erteilen https://t.co/jBf9CFrucE
— Rheinmetall (@RheinmetallAG) September 27, 2023
News of the Panther main battle tank’s production in Hungary was also reported by Norddeutscher Rundfunk (NDR). Rheinmetall CEO Armin Papperger reportedly said in an interview for the ARD documentary that
the KF51 Panther will be ready for production in 15 months, with the Hungarian government covering the development costs.
Rheinmetall has previously reported that it plans to build a Panther factory in Ukraine. According to NDR, the group is sticking to that plan as well. According to Armin Papperger, this is also necessary because “in the next 20 years there will be a whole lot of customers who will have to replace their old battle tanks.”
The news of serial production in Hungary is confirmed by the fact that the German defense company shared the NRD report on its Twitter page.
via handelsblatt.com ; Featured image: Wikipedia
