The aiming system is entirely electrical for improved acceleration. The gun, which fires APFSD (armour-piercing fin-stabilised discarding sabot) and HEAT (high-explosive anti-tank) rounds, has a firing rate of 12 rounds a minute. Fumes are exhausted with a compressed air unit. The 120mm 52-calibre smoothbore gun is fitted with a thermal sleeve and muzzle reference system. The upgrade aims to integrate the Leclerc MBT into the Scorpion programme, an initiative that seeks to replace the fighting vehicles of the French Armed Forces with platforms connected to a unified communications and battlefield management system (BMS) to provide a collaborative combat capability on the battlefield.

Nexter will address the obsolescence of the platform and upgrade the MBTs under a programme known as XLR. In April 2021, the French defence procurement agency Direction Générale de l’Armement (DGA), awarded a mid-life upgrade contract to Nexter for the Leclerc tanks. The UAE donated some of the Leclerc MBTs to Jordan in the second half of 2020. MGCS is a joint effort by the French and German governments to develop a main combat system that will replace Germany’s Leopard 2 MBT and the French Army’s Leclerc in 2035. In May 2020, the Main Ground Combat System (MGCS) was approved for initial system architecture study. In early 2011, Nexter signed an agreement with UAE-based defence and security solutions provider International Golden Group to supply Azur up-armour kits for the Leclerc MBTs of the UAE Armed Forces. A remotely controlled 7.62mm machine gun is also fitted in addition to the 120mm gun. It is fitted with the AZUR kit, which consists of additional protection in the form of side skirts of composite material, bar armour on the rear of hull and turret to protect against rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs) and extra protection for the engine against petrol bombs. In June 2006, Nexter unveiled the Leclerc optimised for urban operations. Leclerc mk2 tanks with improved software and engine control system entered production in 1998. The Leclerc was first operational with the French Army in 1992 and with UAE in 1995. Deliveries of the tanks and ARVs were concluded in 20 respectively. 390 tanks and 46 armoured recovery vehicles (ARVs) were ordered by the UAE.

French modern tanks