In October 2020, according to the Jordanian military quoted on the Jane's Defence Weekly website, they had received a Leclerc main battle tank from the United Arab Emirates and had put it into service. The UAE decided in September to donate 80 Leclerc main battle tanks to Jordan free of charge: enough to equip four tank battalions;
In the 1990s, the UAE purchased a total of 436 Leclerc tanks from France, each priced at more than $10 million;
The reason why the UAE gave away the legal tank that has been in service for 20 years to Jordan is also to free up space for the new tank. The French are excited: the UAE still has more than 300 French tanks on hand, and just upgrading it is enough to save the French tank industry – some of the oil-rich countries are dollars!
However, although the French tank did not drop the chain in the Yemeni civil war: it was too heavy, too sophisticated, too complex logistics, and although there were no examples of destruction or loss, the Emirats still had their own war experience - a tank with enhanced protection (relative to the legal tank), high digitalization, abundant ammunition, relatively simplified/stable logistics (the French closed its production line), and on-board equipment in line with the war environment of the 2020s;
At present, there are indeed no Western tanks lighter than leclerc: the latest improvement of the American M1A1 reaches 70 tons, and the German Leopard 2A7 tank is close to 70 tons! The latest on-board equipment of the Russian T-90 cannot be compared with Western tanks; South Korean tanks are assembled and easily affected by Western sanctions; Japanese tanks cannot be allowed to export to the United Arab Emirates by the United States at all - unless the United Arab Emirates is willing to accept the second-hand M1A-2 tanks of the United States: its painful experience in Iraq and Yemen proves that the United States is unwilling to provide advanced kits to oil hegemons;
The UAE's Asian friends are equipped with more than 100 VT-4 tanks: immediately creating a sense of crisis for the opponent; moreover, Nigeria's counter-terrorism achievements have also made the UAE have an intuitive feeling - Nigeria has a good relationship with the UAE!
The UAE is both a traditional economic and trade partner and an arms purchase user: as early as the 1980s, it purchased the "Red Arrow-8" anti-tank missile, the "Silkworm" shore ship missile, etc. with Pakistan; since then, the country has maintained good military and trade relations with the mainland: including cooperation with China in the development of advanced unmanned aerial vehicles, and the two sides are committed to long-term development and research projects for unmanned systems; therefore, if the VT-4 enters the UAE defense bidding project, its performance and practical combat experience are worth considering the UAE government.