The AUSSIE Leopard AS1

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Museum Assistant Manager and former tank commander, Jason, takes us through the Aussie Leopard AS1

Follow the progress of our workshop restorations every Workshop Wednesday! A must watch for students of history, engineering, mechanics and metalworking! 🧐🛠️

Keep up to date with the Australian Armour and Artillery Museum!⬇️⬇️

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Another masterclass from someone who knows what they are talking about in fine detail. Thank you. And thank you for your military service!🇦🇺

fredfarnackle

i was an dutch leopard 1V gunner and i did not know that the barrel had a life span of 250 apds rounds, i learn every day.

peterjanvanbijnen

Some Aussie Leopard tank trivia for the viewers. I set up and managed a Aussie defence manufacturing engineering business in Melbourne in the late 1990s specialising in manufacturing parts for the Leopard AS1, M113A1 and ASLAV. The very first contract we were awarded was manufacturing the splash guard, these are found on the extreme front corners of the Leopard 1 over the tracks and can be seen very easily in this video. This tank behind the speaker has a splash guard from the German manufacturer on one side; and an Aussie made splash guard from my factory (on the drivers side - right hand drive).

German made splash guard is moulded from one piece rubber with two layers of reinforcing fabric. My factory produced the splash guard in two piece rubber reinforced with 4 layers fabric which can be identified on this tank by the row of 10mm hex head screws in the upper inner corner of the splash guard. The German description is - Spritz schute kette - Chain, spray, cover (Germans call tank track - kette (chain)). The German price per unit in 1998, was AU$1500 each! Our price per unit was approx 30% of the German price.

We were making spare parts for the M113 and Leopard AS1 until both were withdrawn from service in the 2000s, and ASLAV. The Leopard fleet management guys I dealt with at Victoria Barracks Melb told me the change over to the Abrams was cos the Leopard 1 was most unbattleworthy. Armour was only proof against 25mm cannon rounds. There is an Leopard 1A4 turret at the Puckapunyal Tank Museum which had a 105mm round fired at it to test its ability to resist penetration by MBT rounds, it pierced the side of the turret, continued on and pierced the opposite side of the turret and went clean through! Not good for combat up against modern MBTs. Thanks for reading my two cents worth.

keithad

I was a Leopard tank commander from 2003 to 2007 when we transitioned to the M1A1 Abrams. I loved it, although it did tend to go through engines a fair bit, but when she would overheat we would jump out with the water Jerry’s, pour water in and away you would go. Pack changes were always super easy and quick. Two steering pressures as well which made it super fun to drive, you could easily drift it on the wet grounds in pukka but wasn’t wise! Loved shooting the 105mm at Bundy and still remember cleaning guns first thing in the morning with an oversized pull through, a can of oil and a whole bunch of us pulling and pushing before chucking the dehumidifiers in…such good memories. Every single thing he said gave me instant memories and they all came flooding back!

Rapid_Australia

Fantastic video. When someone has served on the tank under discussion you get great info. Well done Jason.

Thensane

Thanks for the video. I was a Charlie tank commander for two years (1985/86) in West Germany with the RCD on a Leopard C1. Was a part of the Canadian team on the CAT 86 competition in Grafenwohr.

FYI, we always referred to the ballistic computer as "Hermann the German." 😊

brianspeck

Hi Jason, thanks for this excellent chat about 'your' Leopard. Back in the mid-70ies I was trained as gunner, loader, commander in the German army. Initially on a Leopard 1A2 which was soon switched for a brand new 1A4 whose 1st gunner I had the honor to be. This had the same welded turret as your tank, but different sights. Commander's sight was a PERI R12, and the gunners main optics / rangefinder was an EMES 12A1, both connected to a hybrid firecontrol computer FLER-HG. No other sensors or a laser - nevertheless, once you knew your stuff, extremely accurate. Ammo-wise we also fired the APDS and the HESH/HEP, but additionally we had a HEAT with the freely spinning band to counter-act the rifling, all with the associated training rounds. Well, I loved that beast!

andreasrothmund

Great to have a tank veteran at the museum, nothing beats personal experience 👊

OldSkoolGrandad

We can clearly see and hear that you have served on these tanks, excellent. I drove CVRT during my service and still remember all the torque settings and operation of my tank👍

aussmith

As a german conscript I had to join the "Bundeswehr" in a tank bataillon in 1986 and served as Leo 1 A1A1 driver. The tank was very smooth and easy to handle, the MTU V10 douple turbo charged engine with massive tourque brought the Leo 1 to a top speed of over 70 km/h on asphalt roads, even in challeging soil conditions the speed forwards and backwards was remarkable. We were well trained for the CAT 1986 competition in Grafenwöhr and we hit even without Laser support (ZEISS measurement device was still applied in the A1A1) the targets fast and accurate, what a great tank !

mcruiser

The Germans made such good-looking tanks. The Panther and the Leo 1 were two of the best-looking.

grahamejohn

Spent quite a few years on these in RAEME at The Regiment and The Centre. I have lots of (mostly) fond memories of working on them. A great run-through and it was fun seeing inside one once again after so many years. There are a few updates since I was last inside one in the mid-eighties though! I remember quite a few going for turret lifts after the micro switch on the turret ring pump failed and they were traversed with inflated ring seals - they were the less fond memories! I had to URPC the tubes on those after inspecting them at their EFC life, before they went to ROFB for final condemnation and recycling. My other 'fond' memory was keeping well clear of the main armament when first firing up the turret hydraulics, just in case the stab decided to get a 'ghost in the machine'.

I ended up working with Mr Jarrat's son in Canberra, many years later, during my second career. Mr Jarrat had a Cent at that stage, not sure if he's still got it. It was a little strange that fate would dictate a connection in that way, but I'm very glad I got to be part of our Leopard era.

contributor

Special tank Jason. My old man served in the infantry during the Hat Dich battle. When I visited the museum and saw it. Was mesmerised. I always wondered where it ended up.

robertcousins