Germany’s Rheinmetall has presented its first new battle tank since the 1970s the KF51 Panther - a successor to the Leopard and Leopard II of the Cold War era with a name recalling the Panzerkampfwagen V Panther that served from 1943. The vehicle’s appearance has been widely speculated to be timed to follow the outbreak of war in Ukraine earlier in the year which led to newfound importance being attributed to armoured warfare in Europe. Rheinmetall has been speculated to be working on a new tank since at least 2014-15, when a rise in hostilities with Russia followed by an unveiling of the Russian T-14 Armata next generation tank was seen to have added urgency to such a program. Unveiled at the Eurosatory land defence exhibition in Paris, the vehicle follows the trend set for next generation vehicles by the T-14 of having an unmanned turret to facilitate a reduced weight and accommodate a larger main gun.

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