Leopard 2 vs Wiesel: David vs Goliath?

A Leopard 2 gunner faced Wiesel ("paratrooper tank") in exercise and he was quite impressed with its capabilities, in this video I ask him what he learned about Wiesel tactics, how hard/easy it is to detect, its maneuverability, mobility, firepower and various other strength & weaknesses. Additionally, we shortly talk about how capable it would be in Ukraine.

Cover design by vonKickass.

Disclaimer in 2018, 2019 & 2020 I was invited by the Panzermuseum Munster.

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00:00 Intro
00:20 Detecting the Wiesel
03:07 Wiesel Tactics - Basics
03:52 Maneuverability & Mobility
05:04 Firepower "Comparison"
06:48 Tactics ATGM Wiesel
07:58 Strength & Weaknesses
09:05 Wiesel Stability - Flipping Over?
10:32 Wiesel for Ukraine?
12:43 Evasion of Fire

#Wiesel #Leopard #WieselvsLeopard

[jondavidmcnabb]

I was a driver for the M93 Fuchs (American badged German Fuchs) it was incredibly quite when moving slowly. We routinely flanked or snuck up on OP4 during training in Hohenfels.

[mustafamustermann]

Wiesel 1 were usually not mixed 1:1. A Wiesel Company in the old airborne Anti-Tank Battalions had 2 platoons with 4 TOW Wiesel each and one platoon with 6 Wiesel MK if I remember correctly. Each platoon had two Wolf-variants as transport for extra ammunition. 2 vehicles of each kind made one section and were usually not separated.
We often made mixed platoons depending on the mission and availability. The “ideal” situation vs enemy armor however are homogenous platoons fighting from their own positions. Both Weapons have a different target spectrum and very different engagement ranges.
Vs armored vehicles, you usually try to combine at least one section, better the whole platoon of TOWs. The missiles are in the air for up to 20 seconds, reloading takes some time and you want to avoid any kind duel situation. You usually shoot once out of one flanking position and then leave to engage the target from another vector. It is better to shoot with all four vehicles at once to minimize the time you are exposed. Since it takes a lot of time to get into position, you are lucky if you can pull that of more than one or two times against a group of enemies. The more TOW you can bring to bear per engagement, the better.
We had 7 Missiles on board of every vehicle on board if I remember correctly. If you manage to bring those 7 missiles into your target without getting hit yourself, you had an extremely successful hunt.

[brennus]

That does look like it would be no end of fun to take tearing around through the woods.

[johndelagarza]

I think something like this would be good with a hybrid powertrain to drive closer to silent on electric when needed.

[joetuktyyuktuk]

I can see vehicles like Weasels being used as combat drones, electric drive for when you need to be quiet and a power-pack for recharging and travel when stealth isn't necessary.

[laserprawn]

Sounds like the German Army needs to start training with battalion-level recon drones.

[brianreddeman]

Do they come with the foam hand for signals?

[andrewklang]

This is a PERFECT premise for a video game. You get to be a Wiesel commander, you have only one other d00d talking to you, and you're zipping around Eastern Europe, dancing around tank shells, hiding behind bushes, flanking T-90s (and T-80s, and T-72s, and T-62s, and T-55s, and T-34s, and T-40s, and BT-7s and eventually just limos) and knocking them out like you're Little Mac. As the game goes on, it becomes less and less like David vs Goliath and more like an old-school shooter like Gradius, as the enemy runs out of stuff and just swarms you with wave after wave of crap.

[karlheinzvonkroemann]

Ausgezeichnet, sowie immer! Sehr interessant.

[davidjernigan]

I can see the Wiesel being hard to detect, but in the areas of Ukraine where there are only small areas of tree lines they would be at a disadvantage.

[JKS_Crafting]

The problem with this vehicle, as I see it, is that it's so good damn cute that there is a risk for war being started just because "..you just want to see it run free. Isn't cuddly and cute, look at it go!"

[Bashirbros]

can you do a visualized video on operations with the wiesel? I really enjoyed your ww2 tactics videos.

[cupcake]

This is really good. The powers that be might know about this, and say nothing so as to not tip their hand, or have overlooked this in favor of more "sexy" systems.

[garyswift]

I wonder if the smaller vehicle has a proportionately small logistics footprint?

[alexanderschoneberg]

Intresting how many Commenters apparently know more about this weapon systems and how and where to properly use them then the guys actually using them.

[madmusial]

I really want a Wiesel or a Wiesel 2 pretty much the only modern "tank" I am really fond of. I'm just weird but I love them.

[HistoryfanAD]

I get the Wiesel is a cool little vehicle, but realistically with proper infantry support the Leopard 2 is the bigger and more capable threat in this scenario. And the Leopard 2 can hold ground the Wiesel can't and one good hit on it by any half decent weapon is going to give the Wiesel really trouble. I get you want to hype the vehicle up for the war effort, but let's be careful of going over board with the hype, the Wiesel has quite a vulnerable thin skin that in a high artillery environment makes it a very susceptible vehicle to damage.

[elmaxidelsur]

Could you use the dust and noise made by the tracks to "pretend" that you have tanks and confuse the enemy?

[theromanorder]

Please do more unti, tactics (like ww1 eastern fromt) videos Please

[caelank]

A comparison between the Weisel, and French anti-tank tactics from late and post ww2, could be interesting, I could be wrong but there seems to be similarities