During the 29th edition of Eurosatory 2026, the international defense industry trade show organized by Coges Events and taking place June 15-19 of this year in Paris-Nord Villepinte near Paris, French company KNDS France (part of the German-French joint venture KNDS) presented the upgraded Leclerc XLR/rénové tank.
Photos: Jakub Link-Lenczowski, MILMAG
In June 2022, the General Directorate for Armaments (Direction générale de l’Armement, DGA) ordered a batch of 50 vehicles, and in January of this year, a further 50 – the result of a framework contract dated August 5, 2018, which originally envisaged the conversion of up to 200 tanks by 2029 (the current schedule calls for 160 tanks to be upgraded by 2030 and a further 40 after 2030). The rebuild covers 96 tanks from tranches T10 and T11 of the SXXI production series and 104 from the S2 series (the upgrade does not cover the oldest vehicles from the S1 series). Deliveries of upgraded tanks to the French Army (Armée de terre) began in June 2023, with approximately 50 vehicles estimated to have been handed over by the end of 2025.
Among the most significant modifications to the Leclerc XLR/rénové is enhanced ballistic and mine protection, which will have the greatest impact on increasing the tank’s combat weight from 57.4 to approximately 63 metric tons. However, no replacement is planned for the 8-cylinder Hyperbar V8X-1500 SACM (now Wärtsilä) diesel engine developing 1,500 hp, coupled with the SESM ESM 500 automatic transmission, which currently provides a maximum road speed of 72 km/h (unofficially over 80 km/h) and 55 km/h cross-country. The reduction in power-to-weight ratio will certainly degrade these figures – currently 27.52 hp/t, it will fall to approximately 23.81 hp/t (though the manufacturer, according to information from the show, still declares a speed of 72 km/h at a power-to-weight ratio of 24 hp/t).
Another significant change is the removal of the non-isolated hull ammunition magazine, currently holding 18 rounds. On one hand, this increases crew survivability, as the lack of isolation previously allowed the possibility of propellant charge detonation; on the other hand, it represents a serious reduction in carried ammunition to 22 rounds in the isolated automated turret magazine, a reduction of as much as 45%.
On the other hand, the hull space freed up by removing the magazine has allowed for the aforementioned armor reinforcement, as well as the installation of additional electronic systems and Barage devices for jamming remotely detonated improvised explosive devices (IEDs). However, a hard-kill active protection system (APS) is absent – one that could more effectively protect against rocket-propelled grenades and anti-tank guided missiles. Soft-kill APS solutions and anti-drone cages, familiar from Ukraine, are nevertheless being tested.
A remotely operated weapon station (ROWS), the FN DeFNder designated T2, armed with a 7.62mm FN MAG58 machine gun from FN Herstal, has been mounted on the turret roof. The main armament remains unchanged: the 120mm smoothbore GIAT CN 120-26 L52 cannon and the coaxial 12.7mm M2 heavy machine gun.
The Leclerc XLR’s electronic architecture is open, and the three-person crew is to have at its disposal new Thales Contact communications equipment (SDR software-defined radios), NBC (nuclear, biological, chemical) protection, GPS/INS navigation, and the Atos Scorpion command and information exchange system. The tank will receive the Galix laser warning system along with Galix 13 smoke grenade launchers. The fire control system consists of a modular thermal camera, a Thales Optronics (Taunton) HL-58 laser rangefinder, a stabilized panoramic commander’s sight (SAGEM HL-70), and a gunner’s sight (SAGEM HL-60).
Interestingly, however, the tank displayed at the Paris exhibition was fitted with a new Safran PASEO panoramic observation and targeting sight for the commander, which will become the future XLR standard.
The Armée de Terre is to have 222 tanks of the Leclerc family, of which 18 are DNG/DCL armored recovery/engineering vehicles, while the remaining 184 will be placed in storage. The XLR will remain in service until 2037-2040, but given the ten-year delay in the Franco-German MGCS (Main Ground Combat System) program, an interim tank is planned. KNDS has proposed CAPINT (CAPacité INTermédiaire), whose technology demonstrator was also presented at Eurosatory 2026.
