Jane’s is reporting that Poland has signed a contract with German firm Rheinmetall to modernize 128 Leopard 2 tanks of the Polish Army in cooperation with Polska Grupa Zbrojeniowa and ZM Bumar-Łabędy S.A. Rheinmetall will supply key capabilities for the upgrade. Included will be electronics and weapon technology to bring the tanks to Leopard 2 PL standard, an improvement over the current Leopard 2A4. The contract is worth $144 million for Rheinmetall. The Leopard tanks were bought from German Army surplus in 2002.
In total, more than 50% of the programs budget is to be subcontracted for Polish firms, including: WZM (power-pack overhaul); PCO (KLW-1 Asteria and KDN-1 Nyks cameras delivery); ZM Tarnow (EWNA turret drives manufacturing); Rosomak (licenced production of additional turret armament); and OBRUM (modification and repairs of MBT simulators) The first prototype Leopard 2PL is planned to be completed in Germany in March 2018.
During the final years of the Great Patriotic War the Red Army’s generals had perfected combined arms operations utilizing withering artillery fire and the devastating salvos from Shturmoviks to create decisive combined arms attacks that smashed through enemy lines.
Typically when one sees statements from WW2 veterans concerning the M4 Sherman tank on TV shows or in books, they often are critical of the armor or firepower of the vehicle. These quotes typically come from the final year of the war when the Sherman was being compared to the much heavier German adversaries it faced in Western Europe. While this narrative seems to have defined the Sherman in popular culture, it’s worth pointing out that when the vehicle was introduced in 1942, it was received with much praise by British forces in North Africa. An example of this was recently provided to us by a friend of the site over in the UK who forwarded this letter that was found in the appendix of 7th Half-Yearly Progress Report of the Royal Armored Corps (1st January to 30th June 1943.)
Tank and AFV News 