moin1900 said:
Source of the Leopard 3 model.
http://nast-sonderfahrzeuge.de/fotosammlung/index.php?cat=3
The model is a pure what-if design.
Actually he based it on an official drawing released by the German MOD/Bundeswehr circa 1987. It was an artist impression (see below) showing three vehicles 'in the field', which the Heer planned to have in service by the late 1990s. The vehicles were: MaK System Gesellschaft's ZOBEL scout vehicle, Krauss-Maffei's PYTON, which everyone thought would win the next generation Jagdleopard competition (Wegmann's
entry unexpectedly won instead), and Krupp MaK's PzKW-2000 'super-heavy' tank for KW2000, aka the Leopard III.
As for the two man design that the German wiki erroneously thinks was selected for KW2000, that is something of an interesting mystery. What we do know is that in 1988, the final definition phase of the KW2000 program was delayed yet again (to great widespread annoyance) to early 1989. Previous delays had been (somewhat dubiously) justified by officials on the grounds of financial constraints. This new delay however was a rather blatant attempt by certain bureaucrats in the Defence and Finance ministries to allow Krauss-Maffei to make a last minute pitch for KW2000 with what was basically yet another warmed over Leopard 2, albeit with a 140mm gun and heavy automation to allow a two man crew. Other details of this proposal are sparse apart from what information is in the wiki entry, though it is probable that some elements of the design ended up as part of Stage III (cancelled in 1995) of the KWS (Kampfwertsteigerung) upgrade program for the Leopard 2. The revised tactical requirement that the article also mentions, with it's MLC60 basic weight limit, may well have been an additional attempt by supporters of Krauss-Maffei within the bureaucracy to ensure that the Bundeswehr would be forced to adopt this 'new' design over the preferred Krupp offering. (If such was indeed the case, then I'm not sure how the Inspector of the Army & the Secretary of State for the Department of Armaments allowed themselves to be blindsided in such a manner.) However, while the new 1988 tactical requirement was drafted, it does not appear to have actually ever been formally adopted (or if it had, it had gotten rescinded in record time). It's most concrete legacy, apart from helping to delay the KW2000 program further, was in the form of the VT2000 trials vehicles.
It's not exactly clear what happened next. But by late 1989, it looks like the PzKW-2000 design was the last man standing, so to speak. Unfortunately this was ultimately to prove a pyrrhic victory, as the KW2000 was cancelled in late 1992. The program was ostensibly just a victim of reunification costs (or rather the German government's poor management of same) & the so-called 'Peace Dividend', though Krauss-Maffei & it's supporters also likely played a role behind the scenes in a (only partly successful) effort to secure the Leopard 2 KWS program. It should be noted that even if the Krauss-Maffei proposal had survived a bit longer, it would have likely had to undergo a total redesign given the lack of success it's planned concept of operations had in the VT2000 trials of 1990.
On a side note, while the Panzerkampfwagen 2000 Giraffe Tank (otherwise known as a 'crane tank') may have been a serious concept, it was not an in-house (Kampfpanzer 3) proposal. Rather, it seems to have been put forward for the KW2000 role as part of one of those 'non-provocative' semi-static defence schemes that were so popular in certain circles during the mid-1980s as an alternative to continuing to maintain large scale NATO forces (including Heer) in West Germany. It would have likely acted more like a mobile defensive fortification than a traditional tank capable of both defence and offence. Still trying to find more concrete background on it.
???
