Comparing: AMX 13 90 vs. Spähpanzer Ru 251

In the early 1960s, the 75-mm gun with a muzzle velocity of 1,000 m/s was deemed outdated. The vehicle received the new 90-mm F3 gun that used more powerful HEAT shells. This modernization did not require any significant changes to the turret or vehicle design. First vehicles were manufactured in February, 1967. The existing vehicles underwent the gun modernization as well.

The vehicle was developed on the basis of the Kanonenjagdpanzer 4-5 tank destroyer by the Henschel company in 1964. The tank was planned to replace the obsolete M41 Walker Bulldog vehicles used by the reconnaissance battalions of the armored divisions in the German Army. The tank never saw mass production, but some technical innovations were applied later in the development of other vehicles. The total number of prototypes built is unknown.