At SOFEX 2022, a defense exhibition in Jordan, the French-made Leclerc Main Battle Tank (MBT) donated by the United Arab Emirates to the Jordanian army is presented for the first time to the public.
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Jordanian army's French-made Leclerc Main Battle Tank is displayed for the first time to the public during SOFEX 2022, a defense exhibition in Jordan. (Picture source Army Recognition)
On September 18, 2020, the Army Recognition editorial team reported that the United Arab Emirates (UAE) donated 80 French-made Leclerc Main Battle Tanks (MBTs) to Jordanian armed forces. With these tanks, the Jordanian army has equipped two of the four tank battalions belonging to its 3rd Armored Division.
In 1993 the United Arab Emirates selected the French Giat Industries Leclerc MBT and placed an order for a total of 436 vehicles for delivery from 1994. In 2003, France's Giat Industries agreed to upgrade hundreds of Leclerc tanks it has supplied to the UAE within a $4 billion deal signed 10 years ago.
The Leclerc MBT is the backbone of the French armed forces and entered into service with the French army in 1992 to replace the old AMX-30. Currently, the Leclerc MBT is in service with France, UAE, and Jordan.
The Jordanian Leclerc tank is similar to the French version but features a number of modifications including the installation of a EuroPowerPack consisting of an MTU 883 1,500 hp V-12 diesel engine coupled to a Renk HSWL 295 TM automatic transmission with five forward and three reverse gears, new cooling and air filtration system, other armored side skirts, air conditioning system, diesel auxiliary power unit, modified turret stowage, commander's sight with laser range-finder, thermal channel and installation of a battle management system, which is now called FINDERS (Fast Information, Navigation, Decision and Reporting System).
The Jordanian Leclerc tank is armed with a 120mm smoothbore gun able to fire two main types of 120 mm ammunition fired including the APFSDS with a muzzle velocity of 1,790 m/s and HEAT with a muzzle velocity of 1,100 m/s, both having a semi-combustible cartridge case containing a dual-base solid propellant. The second armament includes one 7.62mm coaxial machine gun and one remotely operated weapon station mounted on the commander hatch armed with one 7.62mm machine gun.
The hull and turret of the Leclerc tank are of welded steel construction to which the composite armor is added providing a very high degree of protection against both KE (Kinetic Energy) and CE (Chemical Energy) ammunition attacks. The armor is of a modular design so that it can be easily replaced or upgraded allowing the installation of a new armor package.
The Leclerc MBT is able to reach a top road speed of 72 km/h and 50 km/g in all-terrain conditions with a maximum cruising range of 450 km with internal fuel and 550 km with additional fuel drums mounted at the rear of the hull.
