Rheinmetall Lynx is an IFV, not a light tank..

It seems the brand new Rheinmetall vehicle is an IFV based on Marder Hull and Lance turret.

I was expecting a light tank, but it seems the configuration displayed is Infantry Fighting Vehicle...

Rheinmetall's New Light Tank

Rheinmetall introduces a New 

Light Tank

in Upcoming Eurosatory

It seems Rheinmetall is revealing a new light tank design in Eurosatory 2016 (Starting June 13th).

The light tank is probably to be called Lynx.

Now I am going to come up with some wild guesses...

Look at the images below that show a Marder IFV. The same colored arrows shows the similarities between a Marder and this Lynx vehicle. 

So I think the Lynx might be based on a Marder hull... But it might also be my imagination..

Alternative for the M2 Machine Gun: Rheinmetall RMG.50

Alternative for the Venerable 
M2 .50cal/12.7mm 

for Remote Weapon Station Integration:

Rheinmetall RMG.50

The venerable 'Ma Deuce' has been the only heavy machine gun that has seen widespread service in western armies.

With the introduction of the remote weapon stations (RWS) and Remote Turrets, M2 immediately has been the weapon of choice for these systems because of its longer reach and high energy.

However, it is not a simple task to integrate M2 in a remote controlled system. The cocking mechanism and the trigger needs to be remotely controlled. This ended up, the M2 guns being equipped with linear actuators or ball screw mechanisms to perform charging and solenoids for remote trigger actuation. Some M2's in RWS systems even have remote safing mechanisms.

This resulted in some electric driven 12.7mm machine guns as an alternative to M2 for RWS installations. One of them is the Rheinmetall's RMG.50.

 Rheinmetall RMG.50

Rheinmetall's development is called RMG.50 and the development started for German Army. The version for the German army is called SMG50 (Schwere Machinengewehr) and the export version is called RMG.50. 

 

Main components are shown below:

 

The gun is electrically driven and it has a stronger muzzle and chamber than M2. This resulted the possibility of using a higher pressure cartridge than the standard 12.7mmx99 cartridge, which will enable 14.5mm cartridge lethality and range in a 12.7mm gun.

 

 

  RMG50 on a RWS

©2014 Warfare Technology

Rheinmetall Wotan 30mm

NEW KID ON THE BLOCK

WOTAN 30mm

AUTOMATIC CANNON from RHEINMETALL

There is a new player in the game, Rheinmetall's new externally driven medium caliber cannon: Wotan 30.

Wotan is similar with the ATK Bushmaster series in the way that it is also electric driven. Rheinmetall's previous 30mm cannon MK30-2 / ABM gun that is arming Germany's newest IFV, Spz Puma is a gas operated gun. However the brand new Wotan is electrically driven following the success of the Bushmaster series with some new features.

Wotan 30mm Auto-Cannon

 The gun is capable of engaging targets up to 3.000m. It has built-in Air Burst Munitions (ABM) capability thanks to its muzzle programmer which is a derivative of the successful AHEAD system.

Wotan has a fire rate of 200 shots per minute. The gun's advanced features employed with the proven lethality and versatility of the 30x173mm ammunition offers a good alternative to Bushmaster series.