Leclerc
Contents
Description
The Leclerc Serie 1 is a rank VIII French medium tank
with a battle rating of 12.0 (AB/RB/SB). It was introduced in Update 1.89 "Imperial Navy".
General info
Survivability and armour
The Leclerc is a very well protected MBT. It's not as strong as a Leopard 2A5 and doesn't possess the strong Challenger 2 turret. The armour consists of modular composite armour SXXI version include titanium, tungsten and semi-reactive layers. But, the Leclerc has only 3 crew members which is a significant disadvantage. However, this doesn't mean that you have weak armour and poor survivability, in fact, the Leclerc is one of the best-protected tanks in the game. The turret has a big weak spot being the box-shaped gun mantlet. Every MBT is able to penetrate this box and when they do, you will lose your gun breech almost every time. The cheeks are strong so it's not likely that you will be penetrated through these. The upper front plate is also quite strong and will help you a lot of the time. The sides and back of the Leclerc are very weak and every SPAA is able to do significant damage or will knock out the tank. The lower front plate is also very weak so take care of your driver!
Although the Leclerc has only 3 crew members, the French Engineers made sure when they designed the tank, that the crew would be in such a position that the chances of being knocked out are as little as possible. This means that when you do get penetrated, it's likely that only 1 crew member will be knocked out. If the Leclerc didn't have an autoloader, this would be a problem because the fire rate would be dropping quite a bit. This means that the reloading process will not be reset and the fire rate will stay at 6 seconds.
Because the Leclerc has a good engine, you have very good speed. This makes the survivability of the Leclerc very good because aiming at you will become harder.
In addition, the Leclerc has blown out panels in the back of the turret. That means that if a shell is fired through the side of the turret, the tank will survive.
Long story short. The Leclerc has very decent armour and good survivability. This makes the Leclerc a deathly tank and should not be underestimated!
Mobility
The Leclerc has V8X SACM (wärtsilä) 8-cylinder diesel engine which is able to produce 1500 hp. The transmission is an Automatic SESM with 8 gears. This gives the Leclerc a hp to ton ratio of 27.52. This makes the Leclerc a very manoeuvrable tank which is a very big plus point. The Leclerc has an average road speed of +50 km/h and 40 km/h off-road. The mobility can be used to drive quickly from point to point and gives the tank the ability to take strategic positions at the beginning of the match. The traverse rate of the Leclerc is decent and will do the job quite well.
Armaments
Main armament
The Leclerc has a GIAT CN120-26/52 120mm tank gun. This tank gun fires either the APFSDS OFL 120 F1 shell or a standard HEAT shell. The APFSDS shell has a high-velocity, which is useful for hitting targets at range. It recommended that you research the APFSDS as quickly as possible just like the AMX-40. When you get the APFSDS, you'll be able to fire the second highest penetrating APFSDS in the game with a penetrating value of 528 mm at 0 degrees. You will have no trouble penetrating the upper front plate of a Leopard 2A5 which is a very big advantage. Shoot this tank at the left side of the upper front plate because you can take out the driver, gunner and commander, destroying the Leopard 2A5 in one shot. The turret can rotate very quickly and has high elevation and depression rates. Also, the Leclerc has an autoloader. This means that you will be able to fire a shell every 6 seconds without the dependency of the loader. This means that if the commander is taken out, the Leclerc will still be able to fire back without a reload nerf. All these factors combined makes the Leclerc very good at destroying tanks and has no trouble fighting any MBT in the game.
Machine guns
Equipped with an M2HB 12.7 mm (.50 calibre) coaxial machine gun. This machine gun is very weak and should not be used to shoot down planes or helicopters. The chance of destroying them is very small and the only thing you do is giving away your position. Try to spot enemy's using your machine gun if needed.
Usage in battles
The Leclerc is a very strong MBT because of it's armour, speed and powerful gun. This means that the Leclerc is a good cap contester and is able to take caps without trouble. Try to flank your enemy's with your speed. Cover your lower front plate because without a driver you're a sitting duck. Take 22 shell's max in order to keep the storage next to the driver empty. If you take more, the enemy will have no trouble setting the ammunition on fire and blow the tank apart. At the beginning of a match, you need to make sure you take strategic points before the enemy team. This means that you never should rush in. Take care of the mini-map and search for potential weak spots. Try to outflank your enemy in order to push. You can knife fight effectively but it's not desirable. The chance of getting destroyed is very big and it's not worth the risk. But when you do get in a knife fight, the chance of you winning is very big. But then again (and I can't stress this enough), flank your enemy!
Modules
| Tier | Mobility | Protection | Firepower | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| I | Tracks | Parts | Horizontal Drive | |||
| II | Suspension | Brake System | FPE | Adjustment of Fire | ||
| III | Filters | Crew Replenishment | Elevation Mechanism | Smoke grenade | ||
| IV | Transmission | Engine | Artillery Support | OFL 120 F1 | Laser rangefinder | |
It is recommended to research the modules in the following order:
Parts - FPE - Adjustment of fire - Smoke grenade - Crew Replenishment - OFL 120 F1 (APFSDS) - Engine - Transmission - Filters - Artillery Support - .... the rest is your choice.
The most important module to get however is the OFL 120 F1 for the APFSDS shell, as without it the competitiveness of the tank is quite low compared to its adversaries.
Pros and cons
Pros:
- Has an autoloader
- Possess advanced protection of composite armour in turret and hull
- Perfect dynamics of armour, firepower, and mobility
- Good crew layout
- Good mobility
Cons:
- Small crew of three
- Big weak spot at the gun mantlet
History
Development of the Leclerc main battle tank dates back to 1964, when the French military initiated a study on possible replacements for the AMX-30 tank, about to be introduced into service at the time. By the early ‘70s, the inferiority of the AMX-30 compared to more modern Soviet T-series MBTs had become obvious. As a result, work on developing a replacement officially began, with first specifications being drawn up by 1977.
In 1980, France and Germany began joint development of a new main battle tank. However, similarly to the previous Europanzer development decades ago, the joint effort quickly came to an end shortly afterwards due to various disagreements, with France continuing work on its own.
The new main battle tank was intended to offer cutting-edge performance by making use of the latest equipment available. However, as the per unit price was projected to be substantial, France sought partnership with another state to reduce these costs. Eventually, a partnership was established with the UAE, who would be the second and only other primary operator of the new tank, other than France itself.
Thus, in 1986 the tank received its name “Leclerc”, with six initial prototypes being produced. Mass production subsequently started in 1990 and went on until 2007. During production, the Leclerc was built in various batches and series, each introducing various tweaks and changes to the design, while some also incorporated major upgrades.
The Leclerc saw service as part of a number of UN peacekeeping missions, primarily in Kosovo and Lebanon, with reported favourable performance. Most recently, the UAE deployed a number of its Leclercs to Yemen, with some vehicles getting damaged. As of the end of production in 2007, a total of around 860 Leclercs were built for both French and UAE forces combined.
- From Devblog
Media
See also
Links to the articles on the War Thunder Wiki that you think will be useful for the reader, for example:
- reference to the series of the vehicles;
- links to approximate analogues of other nations and research trees.
External links
| France medium tanks | |
|---|---|
| M4 Derivatives | M4A1 (FL10) · M4A4 (SA50) |
| AMX-50 | AMX M4 · AMX-50 (TOA100) · AMX-50 (TO90/930) |
| AMX-30 | AMX-30 · AMX-30 (1972) · AMX-30B2 · AMX-30B2 BRENUS · AMX-30 ACRA · AMX-30 Super |
| AMX-32/40 | AMX-32 · AMX-32 (105) · AMX-40 |
| Leclerc | Leclerc · Leclerc S2 · Leclerc SXXI · Leclerc AZUR |
| Other | D2 · S.35 · Lorraine 40t |
| Germany | Panther "Dauphiné" |
| USA | ▄M4A1 · ▄M4A3 (105) · ▄M4A4 · ▄M26 |
