How to destroy a T-72 - Leopard 2 Gunner Interview

A former Leopard 2A6 gunners explains how to destroy and engage T-72s and T-80s. We talk about different variants, where to aim, strength and weaknesses. The most dangerous Russian/Soviet Tank etc.

DISCLAIMER: I was invited by the Deutsche Panzermuseum in 2018, 2019, 2020 & 2023.

Cover Image: T-72B3, by Vitaly V. Kuzmin
Cover Design by vonKickass

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00:00 Intro
00:15 T-72 M1 & modern T-72s
02:04 How to engage a T-72
04:19 The Leopard 2A6
04:56 Call for Leopard 2A6 and 2A7
06:15 Autoloader drawback: rod length limited
06:39 The most dangerous Enemy?
07:50 T-80B, T-80BV, T-80U
09:02 Combat: Keep firing
09:42 Hold on...

#t72tank #leopard2a6 #tankcombat

[Tagarav]

*Waiting for war thunder experts comments*

[massengineer]

Gunner was very knowledgeable and professional. Thank you.

[MrPanzerTanzer]

9:06 Until the turret flies of. Savage analysis, but pretty fitting.

[andrewsarantakes]

I am always impressed by your skills in English to discuss highly technical information in a second language.

[dieterweise]

Currently there is two videos showing direct Leo2 VS T-72 engagement. In the first a T-72 survives a hit from Leo2. In the second Leo2 doesn't really survive a direct hit from T-72:)

[Reverenz-]

I've lived away from my dear Germany for a long time, but my Germanicity is returning rapidly hearing TWO Germans say veHIkle, just makes me happy❤

[nobodyisbest]

The A5 didn't have the L55 gun, it had the L44. It was only the A6 variant that was up-gunned. And on the Leo 1 vs. T-72: the Bundeswehr conducted firing trials with 105 and 120mm APFSDS and HEAT vs. the T-72. And 105 APFSDS was found to be lacking. That's why the Leo 1s were retired. Some material about these trials is available online.

[bencejuhasz]

Greetings from Hungary!
Our armed forces recently got Leopard2A4s and A7s. This May, I had the chance to talk to our tank crew members and asked them about their opinion regarding the 2A4's firepower.(We were yet to have the A7s at that time.) One conversation was very typical. After exchanging the formalities, the conversation went like this:
ME -What is your opinion or what are your experiences with the armour-piercing arrow round [or as you'd call it APFSDS]?
Him -In one word, coffin nail. It went through the hard target like hot knife through butter.
ME -What was the hard target? (Although I didn't specify it, he understood instantly what I tried to ask.)
Him -T-72M1 from the front, 2, 5 km distance. [We only have one T-72M1 equipped with ERA, for whatever reason, of course that one couldn't be the target.]

[wren]

3 days ago a modern leopard 2 was destroyed by the old Russian t-72 with a direct hit. Which was video recorded. What an irony to see it after this video

[RichardLewisCaldwell]

"until the turret pops off"
It's ever so polite to incorporate a turkey-timer on your tanks.

[el_barto]

As a fellow gunner, I can largely confirm what my Kamerad had to say. We don't aim at weakspots - you measure the distance with your EMES, preferably directly before the shot (more modern Russian tanks have laser warning systems), *yell out* (that's important so the loader knows the cannon will now do a thing - wouldn't want him to have his arm or leg somewhere problematic), take the shot.
Also, yes, we only fought against T-72s and T-80s in simulators.
At 9:15, he starts talking about the difference between "bekämpft" and "zerstört" (actually, it's more commonly "vernichtet" in German Army lingo). "Bekämpft" means nothing more than "engaged", which means that the status of the shot-at enemy vehicle is unclear, whereas "zerstört" means "destroyed" - the target was clearly destroyed as an explosion was visible or the vehicle starts to smoke. "Vernichtet", in the same vein as "zerstört", means "annihilated", but can also mean "destroyed". It's merely a more colorful expression that has established itself as standard army lingo.
Another gunner specialty is to know in what order to destroy targets if there are multiple. It's a relatively logical thing - flanking tanks at the edges of your field of view have priority, tanks that are closer have higher priority than those further away. BMPs/IFVs in general are assumed to be equipped with ATGMs, meaning they take priority, moving targets have less priority than positioned targets.

It should also be noted that this gunner had way above average knowledge of Russian/Soviet MBTs - we do receive some rather basic training in identifying enemy tanks, but it's by far not as extensive as what he talks about. What's way more important is to differentiate between types of vehicles: Armored car vs. truck vs. APC vs. IFV vs. tank, to determine what ammo should be chosen to fight them.

[elee]

Vielen Dank, meine Herren. Sehr informativ!

Thank you gentlemen. Very informative!

[michaelguerin]

Thank you gentlemen, for an excellent video.

[mensch]

I've never played a Bethesda game. I just know that the games they produce have given MHV an inexhaustible supply of jokes over the years.

[gooffin]

So basically you can destroy t-72 by shooting it with another tank

Interesting interview. I am suprised nobody walked through the shot and I am glad there was no rain on that day, because that makes for "fun" audio challanges :)

From Memory I would say the Leopard 2 usesers decided on the two upgrade programms in the late 90s. Then they did Nr.2 first confusingly, which was a protection upgrade. The longer gun came later.

[tonyl]

Similar to what an Abrams gunner said in another interview. Basically shoot center mass and keep shooting until it's dead. Doesn't matter what variant - always the same procedure.

[jamesevans]

Thanks guys, very informative. So really, gunner thinking has not changed much since WW2. Aim at the centre of mass to ensure a hit. If it moves, shoot it and if it doesn't move shoot it again to make sure. I'm talking about the man and not the machine. I'm also across modern kit and don't need to be educated about the latest sights, etc. I'm talking about something much deeper.

[russwoodward]

Well. Lots of information there. I appreciate it. Thank you again.

[walnut]

*every War Thunder player: just aim for the lower plate*