Rheinmetall to unveil 130mm smoothbore tank gun at Eurosatory

Andrew Galer, London - IHS Jane's Defence Weekly
13 May 2016

Rheinmetall is developing a 130mm smoothbore tank gun that will be unveiled at the Eurostatory exhibition in June, company officials have confirmed to IHS Jane's .

According to Werner Kraemer, president of Rheinmetall Waffe Munition's executive board, the new 130 mm gun should be in production by 2025.

The new tank gun is intended to be a match for the current and new generations of Russian armoured fighting vehicles (AFVs), including the T-14 Armata main battle tank (MBT).

A new MBT turret is also being designed alongside the new gun. The new turret design is understood to be based on an existing Leopard 2 MBT turret reconfigured to cope with the new weapon.