Hungary signs deal with Rheinmetall to develop Panther KF51 MBT

The Hungarian government has signed an EUR 288 M contract with Rheinmetall to develop the Panther KF51 main battle tank 8MBT) through to production maturity, Rheinmetall announced on 15 December 2023.

A demonstrator vehicle will be constructed and qualified, paving the way to full-scale production.

Under the contract, which was recently signed in Zalaegerszeg, Hungary, Rheinmetall is co-operating with the state-owned Hungarian holding company N7, which also holds a 49% stake in the joint venture Rheinmetall Hungary.

Hungarian Prime Minister Victor Orban first indicated that Hungary would join the development of the KF51 in August 2023. The German government, meanwhile, is focused on developing the Main Ground Combat System as the Bundeswehr’s next MBT in a joint programme with France.

“We’re delighted to have reached another important milestone on the path to producing next-generation fighting vehicles in Hungary,” Armin Papperger, Rheinmetall’s CEO, was quoted as saying in a company press release. “The Panther KF51 is the world’s most advanced main battle tank. It sets a new standard for the combat effectiveness of mechanised formations, while delivering a high degree of future adaptability. At the same time, in our accustomed manner, we’ll be empowering our local Joint Venture Rheinmetall Hungary and further strengthen the national defence-industrial capabilities of our partners.”

Rheinmetall first publicly presented the Panther KF51 at the 2022 Eurosatory defence exhibition in Paris. Unlike the system demonstrator unveiled at Eurosatory, which was armed with a 130 mm Rheinmetall Rh-130 L/51 smoothbore gun, the Panther KF51 EVO (as Rheinmetall is calling this latest iteration) will be armed with Rheinmetall’s tried-and-tested L55A1 120 mm smoothbore gun, giving commonality with the latest variants of the Leopard 2 MBT. This includes the 44 Leopard 2A7+HU MBTs ordered by Hungary in December 2018, the first of which was delivered in August 2023.

Hungary also operates 12 second-hand Leopard 2A4s and 44 T-72M1s that will presumably be phased out as the Leopard 2A7+HUs arrive over the next few years.

The Panther KF51 EVO, however, will feature an autoloader and its turret architecture will enable subsequent retrofitting of Rheinmetall’s new 130 mm gun.

Rheinmetall states that the Panther KF51 has a high degree of digitalization and networkability, while new technologies such as the StrikeShield active protection system keep the vehicle’s weight down.

The KF51’s chassis is based on the Buffalo armoured recovery vehicle (derived from the Leopard 2 MBT). “In combination with the tank’s low total weight, this contributes to the Panther KF51’s high mobility, while simultaneously resulting in synergy effects in logistics, maintenance and training owing to commonalities with the Leopard 2 family,” Rheinmetall stated in its press release.

While the Panther KF51 essentially has a crew of three – commander, gunner and driver – a fourth station, in the front on the left-hand, is reserved for a subsystem operator or a company or battalion commander using the tank as a mobile command post.

Leopard 2 MBT variants all have a crew of four.