The AMX-30 is the first variant of the AMX-30 main battle tank family. It was designed by Ateliers de construction d'Issy-les-Moulineaux (AMX, later GIAT) and first handed to the French Army in August 1966. The first five tanks were delivered to the 501st Régiment de Chars de Combat in August of that year. The French concluded that in order to protect against the most recent anti-tank threats, tanks would need a lot of armour, which would severely limit their mobility. As a result, the AMX-30 is designed to trade protection in exchange for increased agility as a passive strategy to increase survivability. The main armament on the AMX-30 was a 105 mm Modèle F1 tank gun. The 720 horsepower HS-110 diesel engine provided the AMX-30 with good mobility, but the problematic transmission severely limited the tank's performance. From 1965 until the arrival of the Leclerc main battle tank in the 1990s, the AMX-30 served as France's main battle tank. More than 3,500 units were produced, and it was also exported to several other nations and manufactured under license by Spain.

Introduced in Update 1.77 "Advancing Storm", the AMX-30 is a highly mobile main battle tank designed to fit a doctrine similar to the German Leopard 1 main battle tank. It lacks a two-plane fully automatic stabilization system and has extremely weak armour, but it boasts outstanding high-explosive anti-tank (HEAT) ammunition and good mobility, allowing it to quickly traverse the map and engage any enemies over long distances. This is not a tank designed to lead an assault and cannot fight on its own. It is preferable to stick with other stronger allies and use it as a long-range support tank. Use its mobility to set up ambushes to disable tracks or take out one or two crew members of the enemy tank before rapidly retreating to cover. Most tanks of the AMX-30's rank are capable of penetrating its armour; hence, it is best to play more conservatively and not too aggressively during combat.