Wikipedia:Today's featured article/June 17, 2015
The AMX-30E was a Spanish battle tank based on the French AMX-30. Although the Spanish government originally sought to procure the German Leopard 1, the lower-cost AMX-30, which could be manufactured in Spain, was ultimately awarded the contract. The first 19 tanks were acquired from France in 1970, while another 180 were assembled in Spain by Santa Bárbara Sistemas for the Spanish Army between 1974 and 1983. The tank was to supplement Spain's fleet of American M47 and M48 Patton tanks, reducing the army's reliance on American equipment. It was Spain's first mass-produced tank, leading to the development of the Lince tank project in 1985 and the Leopard 2E in late 2003. In the late 1980s, 150 of the AMX-30E tanks were modernized to improve the vehicle's automotive characteristics; another 149 received only upgraded transmissions. Part of the fleet was replaced in the late 1990s by the German Leopard 2A4, and the rest by Centauro wheeled anti-tank vehicles in the early 21st century. (Full article...)
Part of the Spanish Tanks featured topic.