Hungary to produce German KF51 Panther tank PHOTO

German defence company Rheinmetall will complete development and begin production of the new KF51 Panther main battle tank in Hungary.

Rheinmetall has reached an agreement with the Hungarian government to develop and manufacture the KF-51 main battle tank in Hungary, Caliber.Az reports, citing Defense Turk's X social media account.

🔵🇩🇪KF-51 Panther tankları 🇭🇺Macaristan'da üretilecek

🔸Alman Rheinmetall, Macaristan’ın Zalaegersze şehrinde KF41 Lynx ZMA'lar için üretim fabrikası kurmuştu
🔗https://t.co/2fGcavhPsW pic.twitter.com/sRiMJMBFLb

— Defence Turk (@Defence_Turk) October 1, 2023

Rheinmetall predicts that between 2025 and 2035 the demand for KF-51 Panther main battle tanks from NATO countries will be between 500 and 800, and in 2035 and beyond the market will be even more significant and will be between 5,000 and 8,000 tanks.

The German company Rheinmetall presented its new tank with a 130 mm KF-51 Panther gun at the EUROSATORY 2022 exhibition, one of the largest defence industry exhibitions in 2022, which was held in Paris.

According to information provided by Rheinmetall, all KF-51 weapon systems are linked to the commander, gunner and fire control computer through the all-digital NATO Generic Vehicle Architecture (NGVA). This increases the tank's offensive and defensive capabilities. In this context, Rheinmetall says that in the future the system will also be supported by artificial intelligence.

Rheinmetall CEO Armin Papperger said he wants to establish a KF51 Panther plant in Ukraine.

“I think there will be many customers who will need to replace their old battle tanks in the next 20 years,” Papperger said in his speech.

In August 2023, Rheinmetall officially opened its new armoured vehicles plant in Zalaegerszeg, Hungary. The 20,000 square meter plant will produce Lynx KF41 infantry fighting vehicles for the Hungarian Armed Forces and other potential customers.