Why the German Leopard 1 is set to become Ukraine's primary tank

The German-manufactured Leopard 1A5 tank is set to become the most numerous Western-made tank in the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

A total of 178 tanks are expected to arrive in Ukraine with 135 of them coming from Germany and Denmark.

Tank Museum curator David Willey explains how and why the Leopard became the primary tank in Ukraine's arsenal.

#forcesnews #ukraine #tank #ukrainewar #leopard1

[col.waltervonschonkopf]

The Leopard 1 can still be a potent infantry support tank.

[philchristmas]

In the Ukraine war, we rarely see tank duels. So the 105 is great for clearing bunkers and trenches. I'm glad we have started production on the M10 Booker in America, because these lighter, faster and 105mm tanks still play a big roll in modern warfare.

[asmodon]

The German government just announced that 20 Leopard 1A5 with fully trained crews have already been delivered to Ukraine.
New crews are constantly beeing trained by Denmark (commander, gunner, loader) and Germany (driver and platoon level training).

[BaeNana]

Always love to see some tank content, especially from the Tank Museum

[DavidGrayOK]

The answer to most general questions is '42' (according to HHGTTG).
The answer to most military questions is 'logistics'.

[AlexanderBlumenau]

During the 90ties we used the Leopard 1 as a heavy scout/reccy. A really robust vehicle you could rely on.

[markreardon]

Trained alongside 1 Armd Regt Leopard 1s back in the 80s when l was in the Australian Army. The crews loved them.

[bladfadsfblaadsfsadf]

The only thing I worry about? Crew survivability. With a thinner armor and probably higher vulnerability to artillery (which will be their biggest threat), I worry about qualified tank crews, if they end up in a deadly situation, not seeing the other side of it. The Leo 1’s speed is only going to do it some good when they’re not carefully traversing a minefield.

[RustyDust]

The good part about any maintenance: a well-trained maintenance troop can remove and install a Leo2 eninge in roughly 45 minutes, total; dito for the Leo1.
The engines themselves take virtually anything that is even moderately flamable as fuel. Sure, the output is going to drop if it's not high grade diesel, but it won't kill the engine. The engines are also fairly standardized so you can put in fairly off-the-shelf replacement parts to repair them should they break down.

A tank crew with even moderate mechanical skills can perform minor engine repairs themselves without calling out a maintenance vehicle. With only a hammer and an adjustable wrench you can within a mere 15 minutes or so take off the limiter on the diesel engine to force it to overclock and take the tank easily beyond the 70km/h usual top speed limit. But don't ask about comfort, or even longevity in that case. THIS definitely will kill the engine in the long run, damage treads and suspension, and the maintenance crews will chew your ear off for it. But if you really need speed you CAN get it; for a short period, just to get to safety instead of being blown out of the landscape by a more mobile, better armed enemy.

[Oddball_E]

So, the Leo 1 is almost as old as the later T-55 models...

However, the main difference between the Russians bringing T-55's back and the Ukrainians getting Leo 1's, is that the Leo 1's have all been upgraded (or produced) with advanced fire control systems with laser range finders and thermal optics.

Since tank on tank duels in Ukraine are exceedingly rare, the fact that it has a 105 mm gun or light armour won't make much of a difference, but the fact that it can conduct night operations and has excellent first shot accuracy and long range accuracy does.

[stupidburp]

A 105mm gun on a highly mobile platform with a little bit of armor will be useful fire support for infantry units.

[theskilllessgamer]

As far as I am aware the USA is developing an armored support tank, that is supposed to give heavy fire support to infantry, and that platform looks a lot like a Leo 1 specwise. The Leo 1 might not be an MBT anymore, but with huge numbers it will be great as a fire support system for all those infantry fights going on.

[marcusfranconium]

The leopard 1 tanks are great for breakthrough mop up operations securing regions . where the heavy tanks break through and the leo 1s sweep behind and secure the region supporting river crossings, and engineering corps.

[gaptaxi]

With a drone these would be perfect in the indirect fire role, they can also protect the newer MBT´s on their flanks, after seeing the wrecks of Leo2´s used by the Turkish Army wrongly you can see what happens when you deploy even the best tanks incorrectly with no flank protection.
Obviously the weight is a huge difference, but these are similar in speed to CVR(T) but with much more firepower.
Basically a very fast moving Recce MBT.
Once the Ukrainians break through the minefields, they´ll be in Crimea soon.
Might be a good idea to remove the trackpads, on all tanks for combat, they just tend to make the tracks slide on mud and lose grip, I used to crew on Chieftain, they tended to literally dig themselves in when stuck.
They were designed to save German roads from their steel tracks, nothing else.

[polka]

Was trained on these in 1990 in the cdn army as a driver. Impressive machine. The suspension is like a Cadillac.

[TorianTammas]

Leo ones are fast beasts that run smooth in all terrain

[luciano]

If works, can be used in battle. In a attrictional war, one needs the max number possible of military equipment. Also, the russians are using old tanks too.

[Zycras]

It's a good-looking, good-sounding, and effective western tank that rivals the T-72.

[artukmi]

Very rarely is there a tank on tank warfare, therefore, any tank is good because it’s primarily used against entrenched positions

[Fabulousprofound]

Dammit. Canada here. We had a lot of old Leopard 1’s that were replaced with 2’s awhile back and we couldn’t give away the old 1’s when we tried to sell them off… I think our military ended up using them for target practice 😞