The production version of the AMXB weighed 36 metric tons 40 short tons , and sacrificed protection for increased mobility. The French believed that it would have required too much armour to protect against the latest anti-tank threats, thereby reducing the tank's maneuverability.
Protection, instead, was provided by the speed and the compact dimensions of the vehicle, including a height of 2. The Obus G used an outer shell, separated from the main charge by ball bearings, to allow the round to be spin stabilized by the gun without spinning the warhead inside which would disrupt jet formation.
Mobility was provided by the horsepower kW HS diesel engine , although the troublesome transmission adversely affected the tank's performance. In , due to issues caused by the transmission, the French Army began to modernize its fleet of tanks to AMXB2 standards, which included a new transmission, an improved engine and the introduction of a new OFL F1 fin-stabilized kinetic energy penetrator.
Production of the AMX also extended to a number of variants, including the AMXD armoured recovery vehicle , the AMXR anti-aircraft gun system, a bridge-layer, the Pluton tactical nuclear missile launcher and a surface-to-air missile launcher. It was preceded by two post-war French medium tank designs. The first, the ARL 44 , was an interim tank.
Its replacement, the AMX 50 , was cancelled in the mids in favour of adopting the M47 Patton tank. In , the French government entered a cooperative development program with West Germany and Italy in an effort to design a standardized tank. Although the three nations agreed to a series of specific characteristics that the new tank should have, and both France and Germany began work on distinctive prototypes with the intent of testing them and combining the best of both, the program failed as Germany decided not to adopt the new French millimetre 4.
