LEOPARD 2

PROGRAMME

The Leopard 1 was first produced in 1963 by Krauss-Maffei for the German Ministry of Defence and more than 6000 vehicles have been exported to Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Greece, Italy, Canada, the Netherlands, Norway, Turkey and Australia. The successor to the Leopard 1, the Leopard 2, was first produced in 1979 and is in service with the armies of Austria, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Sweden and Spain, with over 3000 produced. The Leopard 2 has had technical improvements under Upgrading Level I and Level II programmes. 219 Leopard 2 A5 are to be license-built in Spain by Santa Barbara.

The most recent variant is the Leopard 2(S) which has a new command and control system and new passive armour system. 120 Leopard 2(S) are currently under production for the Swedish Army. As its newest Leopard 2 variant, KMW is presenting the Leopard 2 A6 EX MBT, which includes the longer L55 gun, an auxiliary engine, improved mine protection and an air-conditioning system.

CONSTRUCTION

The hull is in three sections: 1) the driving compartment at the front, 2) the fighting section in the centre, and 3) the engine at the rear of the vehicle.

The driver's compartment is equipped with three observation periscopes. Space to the left of the driver is provided for ammunition stowage. A camera with a 65 degree horizontal and vertical field of view positioned at the rear of the vehicle and a television monitor provide a reversing aid for the driver.

The turret is located in the centre of the vehicle. There is an improvement programme which provides third generation composite armour, and the additional reinforcement to the turret frontal and lateral armour with externally mounted add-on armour modules. In the event of weapon penetration through the armour, the spall liner reduces the number of fragments and narrows the fragment cone. The spall liner also provides noise and thermal insulation. The reinforcement provides protection against multiple strike, kinetic energy rounds and shaped charges.

FIRE CONTROL

The commander's station has an independent periscope, a PERI-R 17 A2 from STN Atlas Elektronik and Zeiss Optronik GmbH. The PERI-R 17 A2 is a stabilised panoramic periscope sight for day/night observation and target identification, and it provides an all round view with a traverse of 360 degrees. The thermal image from the commander's periscope is displayed on a monitor. The PERI-R17 A2 can also be used for weapon firing as it is slaved into the tank's fire control system. The image from the gunner's thermal sight can also be transmitted to the commander's PERI-R17 periscope so the commander can switch the gunner's video image to the commander's monitor. This enables the commander and the gunner to have access to the same field of view of the combat range.

The gunner's station is equipped with an STN Atlas Elektronik EMES 15 dual magnification stabilised primary sight. The primary sight has an integrated laser rangefinder and a Zeiss-Eltro Optronik thermal sight, model WBG-X, which are both linked to the tank's fire control computer. The thermal sight uses standard US Army common modules, with 120 element cadmium mercury telluride, CdHgTe (also known as CMT) infra-red detector array operating in the 8 to 14 micron waveband. The infra-red detector unit is cooled with a Stirling closed-cycle engine.

The sight is fitted with a CE628 laser rangefinder from Zeiss-Eltro Optronik. The laser is a Neodinium Yttrium Aluminium Garnet, (Nd:YAG) solid state laser. The rangefinder can provide up to three range values in four seconds. The range data is transmitted to the fire control computer and is used to calculate the firing algorithms. Also, because the laser rangefinder is integrated into the gunner's primary sight, the gunner can read the digital range measurement directly. The maximum range of the laser rangefinder is less than 10,000 metres with accuracy to within 20 metres.

The command and fire control procedure known as first echo selection is used for laser rangefinding for anti-helicopter operations. The principal weapon uses electronic firing to reduce reaction times.

MAIN ARMAMENT

A new smoothbore gun, the 120 millimetre L55 Gun, has been developed by Rheinmetall GmbH of Ratingen, Germany to replace the shorter 120 millimetre L44 smoothbore tankgun on the Leopard 2. The extension of the barrel length from calibre length 44 to calibre length 55 results in a greater portion of the available energy in the barrel being converted into projectile velocity. The L55 smoothbore gun, equipped with a thermal sleeve, a fume extractor and a muzzle reference system, is compatible with current 120mm ammunition and new high penetration ammunition. An improved kinetic energy ammunition known as LKE II was developed as a result of a Tactical Requirement issued in November 1987, and uses the longer gun barrel. The effect of the kinetic energy projectile on an enemy target is achieved by 1) the penetrator length and projectile mass and the impact velocity and 2) the interaction between the projectile and the target. The penetrator material is heavy tungsten powder in a monoblock structure. The improved kinetic energy ammunition has higher muzzle energy and recoil forces.

NAVIGATION SYSTEMS

The Leopard 2 is equipped with a land navigation system from the company LITEF of Bonn, Germany which is a subsidiary of Litton Industries Inc of USA. The hybrid navigation system consists of a Global Positioning System (GPS) and an inertial navigation system.

SUPPORT SYSTEMS

A programme has been put in place to replace the H-WNA improved hydraulic system with E-WNA which is an electrical weapon follow-up system. The replacement with the E-WNA provides the following advantages: 1) the turret has no pressurised hydraulic fluid, 2) lower noise level and lower power consumption and heat generation, 3) improved reliability and lower maintenance and service requirements, 4) saving in operating costs and 5) good long term storage properties.

The crew compartment is equipped with a fire and explosion detection and suppression system which has been licensed by the company Deugra Ges. fur Brandschutzsysteme of Ratingen, Germany from the UK company Kidde-Graviner of Slough, Berkshire. A fireproof bulkhead separates the fighting compartment from the engine compartment at the rear of the vehicle. The engine is the MTU MB 873 with a Renk HSWL 354 gear and break system.