The Future of Germany's Leopard 2 Force

Outro music by @CharliMorganMusic

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Chapters:
0:00 - Leopard 2 Variants
4:16 - Tank Platoon
5:43 - NCO Rank Structure
6:44 - Tank Platoon (cont'd)
7:52 - Junior Enlisted Rank Structure
8:44 - Tank Company
12:57 - Tank Battalion

Sources:
[12] Organizational parts primarily sourced from personal conversations with German tankers
[18] Zwilling, R. "PANZERTRUPPE - German Armour Corps Vehicles - Today"

[jamesscott]

Keeping track of the German Army ranks is an even bigger headache than tracking all the Leo 2 variants in that family tree...

[navornone]

As a Kraut I can say that your pronaunciation of the German ranks/ vehicles is damn good. Keep up the good work.

[The_Archmagos]

That chart of the Leo 2s development history is a thing of beauty!

[ricodredd]

Awesome Video! One minor error: PzLehrBtl 93 is shown on the map at Münster. But it is located in Munster. The two dots are 300km apart 😂

[ga]

Love it. When's the video on German Panzergrenadiers coming?

[Assassine]

Your pronunciation of German words is very good, especially with the tongue twisters that are Feldwebel-variations

also, Division 2025 explanation next? I´d be very interested in that

[Echo_]

The Dutch army just ordered 46 of Leopard-2A8 which will undoubtably become part of the German army as the Dutch army is now fully integrated.

[shaunbrender]

Just seeing the different production variants and where they were sent shows that nothing ever changes.

[xXStampsXx]

Love all the videos!
I would be very interested in a compare and contrast video about armies with direct entry Nco programs and armys that dont.
Pros/cons, Methodology, why and why not. Etc
Thank you for being the best military organization Nerd on YouTube!

[Gocever]

This breakdown of the German Leopard units was engaging, well done Battle Order. Your pronunciation of the German ranks was pretty spot-on. It has to be said, the family tree of the Leopard 2 is quite hefty to say the least.

[tramachi]

Very well put together and researched video. You did a great job and, with some unit specific differences in rank and what personnel is available (like a KpChef could also be first a Hauptmann which usually gets promoted during his time as CO) is pretty correct. One thing to note of the KpTrpFhr (OpsSgt) and KpFw (1st Sgt) is that their rank are position specific. A normal HptFw isnt promoted (usually) unless deployed to these two positions. A HptFw who goes to be a OpsSgt is then usually promoted directly if he fulfills the requirements or during his time there. The 1st Sgt is a Oberstabsfeldwebel and the same applies to this. A Stabsfeldwebel who goes to this position is either directly promoted if he already has the requirements or also promoted once he does.
Its, atleast in my experience, not unusual that these positions get filled with the "incorrect" lower ranks but the promotion usually isnt that far off when they do. Also whats to note here is the fact the NCO-led C platoon (in German also called the "Portepee-Zug") is usually the "experienced" platoon as the NCO stays longer in his Platoon Leader role as opposed to A and B Platoon as the Officers usually rotate to a new position after 2-3 years.
Oh and the Enlisted usually get placed according to their experience. The Platoon Leader tank is usually staffed with the most experienced Enlisted men to lessen the work the PL has to give to his own tank for him to be able to focus more on his Platoon. The other 3 tanks are usually then filled with who the TCs want on their tank.
PL (ZgFhr) will usually only have Obersstabsgefreiter as his Enlisted crew as these are usually the most experienced, sometimes Stabsgefreiter or even Hauptgefreiter are put there if they prove themselfes early as competent Tankers in their role. The other 3 tanks usually get then the less experienced one. Either the B1 or B3 staff the least experienced enlisted men as these are, aas you already said, the Kettenhunde of the PL and 2nd PL.


Great job nonetheless.

[Askorti]

War Thunder devs looking at that Leo conversion chart:
*Write that down, write that down!*

[KonstantiStellmacher]

PzLBtl 93 is stationed in Munster near Lüneburg not Münster

[AndrewClose-oict]

Brilliant. Have been waiting for an overview of modern Heerstruktur. Panzergrenedier next? And then a review of the forthcoming 14:56 “Middleforces”?

[dogloversrule]

This family tree is as convoluted as that of the Hapsburg’s

I started trying to do a "short" Video about all Leo 2 Variants and then had to stop because I couldnt get Photos/Video definatly showing all the Minutely different Models :) Which was probably a good call for my sanity. Great Video. But dont try and see the german Tank Museum in Münster. It is in Munster :)

[Welterino]

Didnt know about some of the specific Leo A7 and M variations, very nice video.

[tzeentchctneezt]

Very cool breakdown and visual presentation of the development of the Leopard 2!

Also the display of total numbers of different versions.

Great Job!

[gernblansten]

The use of these career NCOs in these organizations reminds me very much of warrant officers in Army Aviation.

[coreydedolph]

Very nice organized overview of a complicated subject.