AMX-40

AMX-40
AMX-40 prototype at the Musée des Blindés at Saumur
Type	Main battle tank
Place of origin	France
Specifications
Mass	43 t (42 long tons; 47 short tons)
Length	10.0 m (32 ft 10 in) (with gun barrel), 6.8 m (22 ft 4 in) body
Width	3.36 m (11 ft 0 in)
Height	2.38 m (7 ft 10 in)
Crew	4
Main armament	120 millimetre calibre smoothbore gun
Secondary armament	7.62 mm machine gun, 20 mm autocannon
Engine	Poyaud V12X diesel engine 1,100 horsepower (820 kW)
Power/weight	25.6 hp/ton
Suspension	torsion bar
Operational range	600 km (370 mi)
Maximum speed	70 km/h (43 mph)

The AMX-40 was a French prototype main battle tank.

History

Early History

In the early 1980s came the next in the GIAT manufactured, export-driven AMX series. As the AMX-32 had failed to attract any potential sales, the company decided to produce yet another upgrade. This was the AMX-40 Main Battle Tank. The development of the AMX-40 began in 1980 as a clean sheet design. In 1983 the first prototype was finished and presented at the Satory Exhibition of that year. Two further prototypes were produced in 1984; the last, fourth, was fabricated in 1985. The design was not intended for service in France, but as a successor to the AMX-32, the improved export version of the AMX-30. However the efforts to obtain foreign orders failed, the most serious potential customer to have considered the design being Spain. In 1990 it was no longer offered for export.

Configuration

The tank was of fairly standard configuration, with the driver at the front, the turret in the center, housing a gunner, commander and loader, and the engine at the rear. Its armament consisted of a 120 millimetre calibre smoothbore gun, with an optionally coaxial 20 millimetre calibre F2 autocannon. The fire control system was the COTAC also used for the AMX 30 B2. As its dimensions were rather small: 6.8 metres (22 ft 4 in) long, 3.36 m (11 ft 0 in) wide and 2.38 m (7 ft 10 in) high at the turret roof, the ammunition load was limited to just 35 rounds. The tank was powered by a 1,100 horsepower (820 kW) Poyaud V12X diesel engine coupled to an automatic ZF transmission. The number of road wheels per side was increased from five to six, compared to the AMX-32.

Construction

The weight was limited to 43 metric tonnes. Though this, in combination with the powerful engine, ensured an excellent mobility, with 70 kilometres per hour (43 mph) maximum road speed and 50 km/h (31 mph) cross country speed, and a low operating cost, it limited protection. The front armour utilised laminated and perforated steel and protected against 100 millimetres (3.9 in) HEAT and APDS ammunition. Such 400 to 450 mm (15.7 to 17.7 in) RHA equivalency would have been considered quite formidable in 1980; in the late eighties it had become substandard due to missile and ammunition developments.

The type should not be confused with the pre-war experimental medium tank also called the AMX-40.

See also

• History of the tank

External links

• "AMX-40". Chars Et Blindés Français. http://www.chars-francais.net/new/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=802&Itemid=36. 
• Military Today - AMX-40
• Forty, George. "The Illustrated Guide to Tanks of the World." Hermes House. 2005.