AMX-30

AMX-30
Prototype of AMX-30C2 sporting a 105 rifled tank gun
Type	Main battle tank
Place of origin	France
Service history
In service	1966–present
Used by	Bosnia, Chile, Cyprus, France, Greece, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Spain, United Arab Emirates, Venezuela, Nigeria
Wars	Iran-Iraq war, Gulf War, Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen
Production history
Designed	1963
No. built	3,571
Specifications
Weight	36 tonnes (40 short tons; 35 long tons)
Length	9.48 m (31 ft 1 in) (gun forward)
Width	3.1 m (10 ft 2 in)
Height	2.28 m (7 ft 6 in)
Crew	4 (commander, gunner, loader, driver)
Armour	80 mm (3.1 in) maximum
Main armament	105 mm Modèle F1 tank gun
Secondary armament	20 mm autocannon, 7.62 mm machine gun
Engine	Hispano-Suiza HS-110 680 hp (510 kW)-720 hp (540 kW)
Power/weight	15 kW (18.9 hp) /tonne
Transmission	Manual on AMX30; Semi-automatic SESM ENC200 on AMX-30B2
Suspension	Torsion bar
Operational range	600 km (370 mi)
Speed	65 km/h (40 mph)

The AMX-30 is a main battle tank designed by GIAT and first delivered to the French Army in 1966. The first five tanks were issued to the 501st Régiment de Chars de Combat (Tank Regiment) in August of that year. The production version of the AMX-30 weighed 36 metric tons (40 short tons), and sacrificed protection for increased mobility. The French believed that it would have required too much armour to protect against the latest anti-tank threats, thereby reducing the tank's maneuverability. Protection, instead, was provided by the speed and the compact dimensions of the vehicle, including a height of 2.28 metres. It had a 105 mm gun, firing a then advanced high explosive anti-tank warhead known as the Obus G. The Obus G used an outer shell, separated from the main charge by ball bearings, to allow the round to be spin stabilized by the gun without affecting the warhead inside. Mobility was provided by the 720 horsepower (540 kW) HS-110 diesel engine, although the troublesome transmission adversely affected the tank's performance.

In 1979, due to issues caused by the transmission, the French Army began to modernize its fleet of tanks to AMX-30B2 standards, which included a new transmission, an improved engine and the introduction of a new fin-stabilized kinetic energy penetrator. Production of the AMX-30 also extended to a number of variants, including the AMX-30D armored recovery vehicle, the AMX-30R anti-aircraft gun system, a bridge-layer, the Pluton tactical nuclear missile launcher and a surface-to-air missile launcher.

It was preceded by two post-war French medium tank designs. The first, the ARL 44, was an interim tank. Its replacement, the AMX 50, was cancelled in the mid-1950s in favor of adopting the M47 Patton tank. In 1956, the French government entered a cooperative development program with Germany and Italy in an effort to design a standardized tank. Although the three nations agreed to a series of specific characteristics that the new tank should have, and both France and Germany began work on distinctive prototypes with the intention of testing them and combining the best of both, the program failed as Germany decided not to adopt the new French 105-millimetre (4.1 in) tank gun and France declared that it would postpone production until 1965. As a result, both nations decided to adopt tanks based on their own prototypes. The German tank became known as the Leopard 1, while the French prototype became the AMX-30.