• KNDS, a European defense contractor, has unveiled a new tank with a bewildering number of guns.
• EMBT ADT 140 mounts not one, but three guns—each optimized to handle a different kind of threat.
• The tank is one of the first in a new generation of designs recognizing that the battlefield has grown increasingly complicated, with no single weapon capable of tackling drones, enemy infantry, light armored vehicles, and tanks.

After decades of stagnation, the world of main battle tanks is heating up again, thanks to the war in Ukraine. Among several new armored vehicles exhibited at the Eurosatory defense expo in Paris was the Enhanced Main Battle Tank, Ascalon Demonstrator Turret 140, or EMBT ADT 140. Not only does the EMBT mount a 140mm main gun—the largest on any tank—but it also mounts both 20mm and 30mm automatic cannons. The variety of guns reflects the variety of threats modern tanks face, from drones to other tanks.

Something Old, Something New

During its unveiling, the EMBT ADT 140 was painted in a contrasting olive drab and black scheme, highlighting its difference from previous tanks. Sharply angular and sporting an enormous gun, it contrasted sharply with other, more familiar tanks—including the American M1A2 Abrams, and even the German Leopard 2A8 being exhibited nearby.

The tank was developed by KNDS, a partnership between German Krauss-Maffei Wegmann (the developer of the German Leopard 2 main battle tank) and Nexter (the developer of the French LeClerc tank). The tank’s chassis—derived from the Leopard 2— is a familiar sight, and sports the same seven-road-wheel configuration as the older tank. The turret is the ASCALON Demonstrator Turret 140mm, or ADT 140, and mounts Nexter’s 140mm main gun. The turret is completely unmanned, with an automatic loader feeding the main gun.

In addition to the main gun, the turret also features a 30mm automatic cannon, which is remotely operated by the crew inside the hull of the tank. The tank is also armed with a coaxial 20mm automatic cannon that is mounted alongside the gun, and a 7.62mm machine gun mounted in a mini turret atop the main turret. In addition to standard armor, KNDS said that the tank includes an active protection system designed to shoot down enemy anti-tank missiles and rockets. A company press release touts “sensor fusion, AI, cyber, and hybrid applications on energy,” but it’s unclear what any of that means.

The tank was developed for the Main Combat Ground System (MCGS)—a joint Franco-German effort to build a common tank for the French and German armies. MCGS was announced in 2017, and has proceeded extremely slowly, which is a common problem for multinational weapons development programs. The 140mm gun has been tested outside the turret, with a test of the tank firing on the move scheduled for next month.

The Bifurcation of Tank Firepower

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 supercharged the role of drones in modern warfare. Previously used by guerrilla groups unable to afford modern artillery and air power, drones have been mass produced by both sides and spread out to attack almost every ground target imaginable—including tanks. Early in the war, quadcopters jury-rigged to carry hand grenades dropped them through open hatches on tanks. Now, more than two years later, drones are carrying shaped charges capable of defeating heavy armor, which pose a far more lethal threat to main battle tanks.

Meanwhile, the race to field the most lethal tank is back on. The global competition (largely suspended after the end of the Cold War) mostly features older designs updated to modern standards, such as the German Leopard 2A8, American M1A2 Abrams SEPv3, and French LeClerc XLR. It also features newer designs—often with DNA from older tanks, but with enough improvements to make a tank “new,” such as the Chinese Type 99, Russian T-90M, T-14 Armata, and the EMBT.

EMBT’s unusual armament layout is a sign of the times. The designers, anticipating tanks growing more powerful and better protected, have included a 140mm gun that is much larger than the 120/125mm global standard. This results in a bigger, beefier tank round, and there is only so much room in a tank. If a tank with a 140mm gun has, for example, only a total of about 30 rounds of available ammunition, that’s a maximum of 30 enemy targets—regardless of size destroyed.

Contrary to popular belief, just a small minority of tank engagements involve tanks fighting other tanks. While another tank is probably the biggest menace from the perspective of modern tank crews, most engagements involve tanks fighting something else—things like infantry fighting vehicles, reconnaissance vehicles, dismounted infantry, aircraft, and drones. Most of these targets are lightly armored.

So, in most tank engagements, a main gun round is arguably wasted. Smaller, lighter cannons carrying more ammunition would easily suffice for most targets, saving the heavier, bulkier, more expensive 140mm gun rounds for enemy tanks. EMBT’s 20mm gun is likely optimized to engage enemy infantry, trucks, and other soft-skinned targets. The 30mm gun is probably reserved for ground targets—engaging enemy infantry sheltering in trenches one moment and setting Russian BMP-3 infantry fighting vehicles aflame the next.

Thirty-millimeter guns can also be armed with shells featuring proximity fuses that detonate as soon as the target is within lethal range, which makes them effective anti-drone weapons. Armed with three guns, a tank like EMBT can engage dozens of targets without its main gun.

The broad spectrum of threats, from the very small and lightly armored to the very large and heavily armored, has resulted in many calling the tank an obsolete, dead platform. The reality is that the tank is still very much alive, and that part of the solution is arming it with multiple guns, not just one do-everything gun. The tank is not dead—it’s adapting.