New DEADLIEST 140 mm TANK Gun Will CHANGE Battlefield FOREVER!

There's a new main gun that's been developed for tanks, and it's one of the most exciting developments when it comes to this kind of weaponry. The Ascalon main gun has been designed to deal with future heavily armored threats, and this breakthrough weapon has been a team effort to release a new common and lethal solution for France and Germany. Let's take a closer look at what makes this weapon such a frightening proposition. But before we get started, if you enjoyed this video and would like to see more just like it, remember to give us a like and subscribe to Military World to get more sent straight to your notifications. In the coming decades, Allied nations face the prospect of the return of high-intensity confrontations. On land, armies will have to equip themselves with modern means for tactical superiority, manned or unmanned, to reach the highest levels of protection for the crew and the capacity to take out the enemy. Faced with various hardened threats, winning a battle from the start will need shooting to be faster, farther, and with a higher destructive capacity on the first shot, while reducing logistical and ergonomic constraints. This is where the Ascalon gun comes into play. French company KNDS has developed an innovative concept that has the potential to change and deliver performance that current technologies can't keep up with. The company has a long experience with the 120mm smoothbore gun of the Leclerc tank, and has used this to make the Ascalon as effective as possible. Its background in telescript ammunition, as well as the maturity achieved during firing campaigns with a 140mm caliber, has led to KNDS designing the Ascalon concept, which stands for auto-loaded and scalable outperforming gun, and has been engineered to cope with the latest generation of heavy armor while staying ahead of the threats of the next half century. Most significantly, it's been designed with the French and German collaboration of the MGCS in mind, a state-of-the-art main battle tank that's expected to replace existing offerings such as the French Leclerc and the German Leopard 2. There are a few things that characterize the Ascalon program. The first is a wide choice to take out the target. The enlarged caliber increases the ammunition for the best chance of destruction due to rods of unparalleled length. The ammunition is also compact, with a maximum length of 130cm. Ascalon telescoped ammunition has been designed to be more compact than equivalents. This means it can be stored and integrated into a self-loading turret, which is a technology that KNDS has spent many years refining. The gun also has increased firepower in comparison to its predecessors. The optimized chamber offers increased operational performance with an energy level close to 10 MJ for kinetic ammunition. This untapped potential lets the weapon evolve to a performance class of 13 MJ, capable of neutralizing any potential target over the next 50 years. But this power has also been contained with a controlled blast. This comes courtesy of an innovative muzzle brake, adjusted external pressure fields, and an optimized firing impulse. This means that Ascalon will let infantrymen close enough to the tank for joint combat, especially in urban areas. Finally, the Ascalon's exceptional integration capacity, thanks to a controlled impulse, will mean that the gun will have a recoil and acceleration effort compatible with mobile and projectable platforms weighing less than 50 tons, while preserving the vehicle's layout capabilities. KNDS has been testing the maturity of the Ascalon 140mm gun and its ammunition. The firing campaign of May 2024 has shown what the two guns are capable of. During the tests, series company personnel showed an easy and quick gun caliber change, replacing a 120mm barrel with the 140mm in less than one hour. As well as the 140mm and 120mm barrels, there were also APFSDS rounds tested. The Ascalon program has included several hundreds of firings of the 120 and 140mm barrels over the past few years, and the next important step is firing tests from a main battle tank in 2025. In previous exhibitions, the Ascalon has been seen on top of KNDS main battle tanks, the Leclerc Evolution, the Leopard 2 ARC 3.0, and the EMBT. This gives us some clues as to where we're likely to first see this gun when it's properly introduced into battle. The ARC 3.0 variant of the Leopard 2 promises to slim down the 60 ton plus big brother by as much as 10%. The tank will also have one fewer crew member by replacing the role of the loader with an automated loader. The three person crew is going to be placed deeper within the vehicle's chassis. The modular unmanned turret will host a main gun, which may well be the Ascalon, ranging from 120mm to 140mm, with the latter able to fire larger projectiles that offer longer range and heavier kinetic hitting power. The autoloader has taken design cues from soda bottle distributors, and is thought to be capable of firing 3 rounds in 10 seconds. This is far greater than tanks with a crew of 4, including a gunner and loader. On top of the main gun, the turret would be further armed with a 30mm secondary weapon and anti-tank missiles. It's still going to be a couple years before a fully functioning prototype can be seen working. Modifications are still being made to the chassis, both to protect the crew, and to ensure that everything fits as it should. The new vehicle will be powered by a 1,500 horsepower engine, which will allow it to reach a top speed of 40 miles per hour, or 64 kilometers per hour, with a range of 285 miles, or 460 kilometers. KNDS is responsible for the Leopard 2, but also the Leclerc Evolution, which also recently featured the Ascalon gun. The Evolution integrates a deputy commander crew station, fitted in the chassis, to manage a massive suite of sensors and effectors, such as the ARX-30 RCWS, fitted for counter UAV warfare, and a loitering ammunition launcher. On top of the Ascalon, the ARX-30 has been a standout feature since its release to the public. In an era where UAVs are becoming increasingly seen on the battlefield, this capability ensures that the Leclerc Evolution can effectively neutralize aerial threats, to safeguard its operational integrity. Additionally, the turret is equipped with a loitering ammunition launcher module, which extends the tank's engagement range and allows for precision strikes on distant targets. The loitering ammunition launcher, integrated into the Evolution's turret, is a game changer in modern armored combat. This is because it allows the tank to deploy munitions that can loiter in the airspace, providing real-time reconnaissance and precision strike features. This extended range not only enhances the tank's offensive range, but it also gives tactical flexibility, enabling it to support a wide range of missions, from reconnaissance to direct engagement. This is on top of the Ascalon 120mm smoothbore gun that we've already looked at, which can be upgraded to a 140mm caliber if needed. The 120mm gun is of 58 calibers, and comes with a 22-round autoloader. On top of this, it has a coaxial 12.7mm machine gun with 680 rounds ready to fire, and the ARX-30 30mm anti-UAV capability we've seen with 150 rounds ready to fire. The Ascalon 140mm has also been seen on KNDS's Enhanced Main Battle Tank, This features an upgraded Leopard chassis with shortened engine to increase space inside the vehicle's compartment. EMBT has KNDS's new EMBT-80T-140 uncrewed turret, which includes the 140mm Ascalon gun, ARX-30 30mm by 113mm remote-controlled weapon station, and the French Ministry of Defense's Prometheus active protection system. Also included on the EMBT is the AI-enabled SAFE fire control system from KNDS, an internally developed solution designed to assist the autonomous selection and cueing of weapon systems onboard the platform to select targets in order of priority. With this, and the other MBTs seen here, it looks like we'll be seeing the Ascalon a lot more in the future. What are your thoughts on the Ascalon main gun? Let us know in the comments below. If you enjoyed this video don't forget to give us a like, and subscribe to Military World to get our latest videos straight to your notifications.