The new KE2020Neo ammunition demonstrated its qualification readiness. Credit: Rheinmetall AG.

German company Rheinmetall has successfully completed the qualification readiness of its latest generation 120mm enhanced armour-piercing kinetic energy (KE) ammunition.

The new KE2020Neo or enhanced Kinetic Energy (eKE) ammunition is designed to counter advance protection technologies.

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As a result, the Germany armed forces Bundeswehr and the British Army have commissioned Rheinmetall to produce qualification samples of KE2020Neo.

The qualification samples are reportedly part of a collaborative project between Germany and the UK focused on enhancing Leopard 2 and Challenger 3 main battle tanks with advanced kinetic energy ammunition.

It follows a contract signed by the Federal Office for the Equipment, Information Technology and In-Service Support of the Bundeswehr and the management of Rheinmetall Waffe Munition in September 2020.

The new 120mm x 570 KE2020Neo kinetic energy ammunition features new technologies that enables its high-strength tungsten penetrator to breach the latest armour protection technologies.

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It continues Rheinmetall’s legacy in kinetic energy projectiles development. The DM13 was the first in this lineage to be used, followed by DM23 in the mid-1980s, and later the DM33.

The company noted that the upgrade of Leopard 2 to the A6 version saw the development of the performance enhanced DM53 and DM63, which are predecessors to the Bundeswehr’s current DM73, an advanced version used with the L55A1 high-pressure weapon.

Rheinmetall’s 120mm smoothbore technology, including the Rh120 guns and associated ammunition family, is a NATO and western hemisphere standard. It is equipped on tanks like the Leopard 2, M1 Abrams, and the British Challenger 3.

Challenger 3 is being produced by Rheinmetall BAE Systems Land (RBSL) under an £800m ($1bn) contract.