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Leopard MBT (Main Battle Tank)
The Leopard 1 main battle tank was developed by Germany in the 1960s. Canada purchased 127 Leopard 1 A3 tanks in 1979, the bulk of which were stationed in West Germany until Canada withdrew from Europe. The tank has a fully stabilized 105mm gun capable of firing while the vehicle is moving. The Leopard also has a 7.62mm C-6 MG mounted co-axially, a C-6 on the turret roof for anti-aircraft defence, and smoke dischargers. The tank has a crew of four (crew commander, loader, gunner, driver) and is capable of submerged fording, with preparation.
Shown below is a Canadian Leopard 2 outfitted with Add-On Armour designed to enhance protection. This is not the standard armour, and apparently the new A5 turrets are significantly different.
The Canadian Army is in the process of acquiring a thermal sight for the main armament to allow the Leopard to more operate more effectively during periods of low visibility & battlefield obscuration (ie. smoke, dust).
The Leopard upgrade project will extend the service life of the tank until 2010. Surplus A5 tanks will be purchased and their turrets will be reconditioned and installed in the existing Canadian chassis. An electric turret drive will be added as well, to replace the current hydraulic system. Improved ammunition will also be purchased for improved lethality.
The ARMOR Site
Ironside's
Official Canadian Army Page (Leopard)
Sofcom
Military Analysis Network
Army Technology
Scott Cunningham's Armor in Action (A lot of pictures of the Leopard)
Commander
The commander�s visual device is the stabilized panoramic sight
periscope PERI-R17 (by Zeiss). He has the choice between 2x- and
8x zoom. To use the thermal image unit of the EMES 15 there is a
visual transmission block between EMES and PERI. He is able to lead
the gun and fire, too. The vision blocks can be replaced by an
infrared night scope (BiV).
Gunner:
The main optic of the gunner is the stabilized binocular EMES 15
(Krupp-Atlas-Elektronik) with an integrated Laser Range Finder
and a Thermal Image Unit (Carl-Zeiss). The EMES day vision has
12x zoom, the Thermal Image 12x/4x. The auxiliary device is the
monocular FERO-Z18 (Leitz) with 8x zoom. The stabilization of
the EMES is independent from the gun stabilization so that the gun
is lead by the Fire Control Computer using the visible line of the EMES.
Driver
For the driver�s view there are 3 vision blocks integrated into
the front armor. For night vision the middle vision block is
replaced by the passive infrared night scope (BiV) PERI D53
(by Elektro-Spezial).
The commander's hatch has a periscope, a PERI-R17 A2 from STN Atlas Elektronik and Zeiss-Eltro Optronik. The PERI-R17 A2 is a stabilized 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 stabilized 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 Aluminum 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 meters with accuracy to within 10 meters.
The command and fire control procedure known as first echo selection is used for laser range finding for anti-helicopter operations. The principal weapon uses electronic firing to reduce reaction times.
Inside the leopard
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Length: |
8.17 m (gun at 6 o'clock) |
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Width: |
3.37 m |
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Height: |
2.62 m |
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Weight: |
42.5 t |
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Engine: |
