 A variety of rounds have been developed for Rheinmetall 's tank gun . For example , a long line of armor @-@ piercing discarding sabot ( <unk> ) rounds was developed by Rheinmetall . Originally , the Leopard 2 was outfitted with the <unk> kinetic energy penetrator , based on the Israeli <unk> Hetz . The <unk> was eventually replaced by the <unk> , which was also adopted by Japan , Italy , Netherlands and Switzerland . The <unk> has a three @-@ part aluminum sabot and a two @-@ part tungsten penetrator , and is said to be able to penetrate 560 millimetres ( 22 in ) of steel armor at a range of 2 @,@ 000 meters ( 2 @,@ 200 yd ) . The <unk> is a further development of this round , co @-@ developed between Germany and France . The introduction of the longer barrel came hand in hand with the introduction of a new kinetic energy penetrator , the <unk> . With the projectile including sabot weighing in at 8 @.@ 35 kilograms with a 38 : 1 length to diameter ratio and with a muzzle velocity of 1 @,@ 750 meters per second ( 5 @,@ 700 ft / s ) , the <unk> has an effective engagement range of up to 4 @,@ 000 meters ( 4 @,@ 400 yd ) . A further development , called the DM63 , improved upon the round by introducing a new temperature @-@ independent propellant , which allows the propellant to have a constant pattern of expansion between ambient temperatures inside the gun barrel from − 47 ° C ( − 53 ° F ) to + 71 ° C ( 160 ° F ) . The new propellant powders , known as surface @-@ coated double @-@ base ( <unk> ) propellants , allow the DM63 to be used in many climates with consistent results . The new ammunition has been accepted into service with the Dutch and Swiss , as well as German , armies . 
