Rheinmetall has completed development of the KE2020Neo or eKE 120 mm Ă— 570 round for the Bundeswehr's Leopard 2 and British Army's future Challenger 3 main battle tanks. (Rheinmetall)
Germany and the United Kingdom signed a contract with Rheinmetall Waffe und Munition on the qualification of the company's KE2020Neo or enhanced Kinetic Energy (eKE) 120 mm Ă— 570 round for the Bundeswehr's Leopard 2 and British Army's future Challenger 3 main battle tanks, the UK Ministry of Defence's (MoD's) Defence Equipment & Support (DE&S) organisation announced in a press release on 14 October. Rheinmetall announced in a press release on 8 October that it had completed development of the eKE round.
DE&S CEO Andy Start, in his role as UK National Armaments Director (NAD), and German NAD Vice Admiral Carsten Stawitzki signed a statement of intent in April 2023 to develop the ammunition. A project technical arrangement was signed in June 2024.
Rheinmetall has been commissioned by the Bundeswehr and British Army to manufacture qualification samples of the new ammunition, as foreseen by a contract signed with the Federal Office of Bundeswehr Equipment, Information Technology and In-Service Support (Bundesamt fĂĽr AusrĂĽstung, Informationstechnik und Nutzung der Bundeswehr: BAAINBw) in September 2020.
DE&S said, “The increased lethality of eKE is driven by the incorporation of novel technologies like the new high-strength tungsten penetrator. This provides superior performance against current state-of-the-art protection systems.” Neither DE&S nor Rheinmetall would specify to Janes what new technologies allow the penetrator to pierce the latest protection technologies because they are classified.
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