Non-Subscriber Extract
Changing its spots brings expanded roles and users for Leopard 2 MBT
By Christopher F Foss
17 March 2008
Just over 30 years ago, in 1977, the German Army selected the now Krauss-Maffei Wegmann (KMW) Leopard 2 main battle tank (MBT) to meet its future requirements and the first production vehicles were completed by late 1979.
Since then, a raft of new-build and transfer customers have taken delivery of their own Leopards as the tank has entered wide service around the world.
Production was originally split between KMW in Munich and the now Rheinmetall Defence in Kiel, but today all production and upgrade work on the Leopard 2 MBT is carried out by KMW in Munich, as the vehicle design authority. Rheinmetall Defence, meanwhile, is design authority for the Leopard-based BŸffel armoured recovery vehicle. Both companies work in close co-operation with Germany's Federal Office for Defence Technology and Procurement (Bundesamt fŸr Wehrtechnik und Beschaffung - BWB).
Surplus German Leopard 2A4s are normally sold on a government-to-government basis, with German industry usually awarded contracts for vehicle refurbishment, training, spares and ammunition.
Other Leopard 2 users are also selling surplus Leopard 2s and in some cases - Denmark being one recipient - KMW is working to upgrade them to an enhanced 'A5' version before delivery.
In other examples, early vehicles are upgraded in Germany and the remainder in the users' own facilities using kits provided by KMW and its many subcontractors.
As well as working on these second-hand vehicles, KMW is still manufacturing new Leopard 2s - currently for the Hellenic Army. The production line will be maintained to meet potential future export requirements. Much of the workload in Munich is currently focused on refurbishing surplus German Army Leopard 2s for Chile, Greece and Turkey, and this work is expected to carry on through 2009.
While the baseline design of the Leopard 2 is now more than 30 years old, it has during that time undergone a number of major upgrades as the result of changing operational requirements and the introduction of new technology.
Most Leopard 2 users have regular meetings in Germany so that KMW can keep its customers and many subcontractors informed of any changes to the vehicle or emerging user requirements. Modifications to existing Leopard 2s are made via engineering change proposals, which are circulated to all users.
Interestingly, export customers regularly receive the enhanced versions of the vehicle before the German Army. A good example is the Leopard 2 Strv 122 - developed to meet the requirements of the Swedish Army - which had many improvements over the basic Leopard 2 then fielded domestically.
Despite widespread foreign interest, early in its life the Leopard 2's export potential was limited by Germany's stringent export controls. However, as these have been relaxed over recent years industry has been able to export some armoured vehicles into the Middle East.
Traditionally the three key elements of MBT design have been armour, mobility and firepower, but to these can now be added C4I (command, control, communications, computers and intelligence), which is one of the largest investments for many armies.
The first major armour improvement took shape with the Leopard 2A5, which added an enhanced passive protection package over the frontal arc, giving the turret a distinctive arrowhead shape. Armour protection was also increased on the nose and glacis plate.
A higher level of roof protection has also been fitted to many of the more recent new-production versions of the Leopard 2, to defend against top-attack weapons. Explosive-reactive armour has not been fitted so far, as new types of armour can provide protection against both kinetic-energy and chemical-energy attack.
In recent years, however, advanced anti-tank mine threats have proliferated and KMW - with the assistance of the BWB and four other user nations - has developed a new mine-protection package that adds about two tonnes to the overall weight. This has so far been installed on 70 German Army Leopard 2A6 variants, becoming Leopard 2A6M; and the Swedish Army has fitted it to 11 of its Strv 122 MBTs, designating them Strv 122B.
Image: A German Army Leopard 2A6, with additional turret armour and a Rheinmetall 120 mm L/55 smoothbore gun. (Krauss-Maffei Wegmann)