Historical Skins – Leclerc Tropicalisé

Commanders!

Today, we’d like to tell you more about another epic historical skin that we’ve prepared for you – Leclerc Tropicalisé.

Leclerc Tropicalisé (or Tropicalized Leclerc) is a Leclerc version produced for the UAE between 1994 and 2000 with 388 combat tanks delivered (as well as four dozen other versions). The biggest difference between this tank and the French Leclerc is the engine – the sheiks opted for a more universal power plant, the German MTU 883 1.500hp V12 diesel coupled with Renk HSWL 295TM automatic transmission. The decision was likely influenced by the fact that MTU has close ties to the UAE.

This combination is known under the name of EuroPowerPack and is offered as a universal solution for multiple tanks (including the Challenger 2, the Leclerc and the Merkavas). It’s a fairly compact power pack that takes less space than other engines of this output category. Its inclusion, however, meant that the engine compartment of the Leclerc had to be re-designed and these tanks are easily recognized by their different engine decks.

Other changes include:

• New cooling and air-filtration systems along with more powerful air conditioner
• Additional armored skirts
• Additional diesel APU
• Improved HL-80 commander sights with a laser range finder and thermal imager
• Battlefield management system called FINDERS
• Improved stowage baskets

These modified Leclercs took part in the Saudi-led intervention in Yemen in 2015. None of these tanks were allegedly completely destroyed, although several were heavily damaged by mines, RPGs and ATGMs. As tanks go, the Leclercs proved to be very rugged during the fighting and generally outmatched the obsolete Soviet equipment present in this theater of war completely, as expected of this expensive but effective piece of military hardware.

Our skin is based on one of the prototypes for this vehicle, which used the original engine. Otherwise, we’ve added all the changes necessary to make it look like a real “tropicalized” Leclerc.

The vehicle is covered with a two-tone desert camouflage and a camouflage net. This net covers much of its surface.

We’ve added an APU unit to the back of the vehicle.

The rear turret now features new stowage baskets.

The turret optics is also covered with a camouflage net.

Overall, this skin will be highly suitable for desert maps and Realistic battles, as it blends truly nicely into their environment. However, on other map types, it will look just as dashing. It’s worth noting that unlike the real Leclerc Tropicalisé, the skin does not come with any improvements or performance changes. It’s simply a way of making your Leclerc to look really cool.

We hope that you will enjoy it as well as the other items coming with it and, as always:

See you on the battlefield!