#22 — Leclerc: The French Thoroughbred That Outran the Gulf War
The Leclerc can fire its 120mm CN120-26 smoothbore gun while moving at 50 km/h and hit a target at 2,000 meters with first-round accuracy exceeding 95%. Its autoloader delivers a sustained rate of fire of 12 rounds per minute — double the rate of manually loaded Western tanks.
At 57 tons, the Leclerc is the lightest Western MBT with full NBC protection, composite armor, and a 120mm gun. Its 1,500-horsepower SACM V8 hyperbar diesel uses a turbine-assisted supercharging system unique in tank design, achieving a power-to-weight ratio of 26.3 hp/ton. France built 862 units, and the UAE purchased 388 — the Emirati Leclercs saw combat in Yemen starting in 2015, marking the type's first engagement. The Leclerc features FINDERS, one of the first fully digitized fire control systems, with automatic target tracking that can lock onto moving vehicles at 4,000 meters. Designed from the ground up as a three-man crew tank with autoloader, the Leclerc represents France's commitment to independent defense technology — expensive, but genuinely world-class military equipment.
