Today’s Photo of The Day is a silhouette of a French Leclerc Mk2 Main Battle Tank (MBT), shrouded in smoke after firing during the live fire element of a joint UK/French exercise.

The aim of the exercise, which took place in Estonia, was to give troops from both France and the UK a chance to watch each other’s main battle tanks in action, the Leclerc Mk2 from France and the Challenger 2 from the U.K.

After the tank ranges had finished, both armies set up a range to test out each other’s individual weapon system, an activity enjoyed by all due to its rarity.

The enhanced Forward Presence Battlegroup in the Baltic States means that there are multinational, combat-ready forces in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland, on a persistent, rotational basis.

The Leclerc’s main armament is a GIAT CN120-26/52 120 mm tank gun.

The secondary armament is the well-known 12.7 mm coaxial M2HB machine gun (with 1,100 rounds) and a 7.62 mm machine gun (3,000 rounds).

The engine is a Wärtsilä 8-cylinder diesel engine with 1 500 hp.

For more details on the Leclerc Main Battle Tank, check the Wikipedia.