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

this is actually called a leopard one tank it was the first tank the Germans were to build after World War II and it came became a best seller now we've heard in the news quite recently a lot about leopard two and the A2 uh or up to rather a4a5a6 variants later models in the production of leopard too some of these are the ones that we've been hearing about Germany and certain other countries offering to the ukrainians and going to be sent there why they're so successful and why lots of people talk about leopards all the time is they're a very reliable tank they've been built in large numbers and they've been sustained because there's been so many the manufacturers have kept a program together for spare parts engines upgrade programs Etc and because there's so many countries with these this is why it was a tank that was picked on in particular to go to the Ukraine now this particular earlier model the leopard one it is looking like some of these may go to the Ukraine as well thinner armor on the earlier versions leopard one still a powerful gun it was 105 millimeter it's actually a British gun the L7 gun it was called that was what Britain put on its Centurion tanksy Americans put on the first Abrams Tanks so it's still got a bit of a kick in it the Germans originally wanted speed to be their best defense on this vehicle so they put a really meaty MTU diesel engine in the back and the idea was the sheer speed around the battlefield should stop you getting hit by the enemy over time and certainly when they moved on to the leopard too they added to the levels of armor protection so you'll see a much more boxy shaped turret and then an angular Arrow pointed turret on some of the later models A6 A7 versions of the leopard but the amazing things with the leopard twos is they've kept up that sense of Mobility so even though they've added weight over time they've been able to put a bigger gun on but it's still a very mobile tank and so the ukrainians of course are going to be welcoming this NATO technology and in the terms of the numbers of Tanks out there there are just sheer numbers of there's still a couple hundred leopard ones that might be going many more leopard twos around the place and because they've got that program of upgrading with ammunition with sighting systems with everything else there's a a good chance that there's the be a sustainability of the leopard twos there'll be more than some of the other kit they're being offering because they haven't been able to keep those going in the same sorts of numbers or there's not quite such a big program behind for example Challenger 2.

Channel: Forces News

Views: 386,354

Keywords: Forces News, Forces TV, British Armed Forces, British, Forces, military, serving, military personnel, Ministry of Defence, British defence, British military, Ukraine, Leopard 1, tank, Germany, Leopard 1A5, Ukrainian Armed Forces, Denmark, David Willey, arsenal, battlefield, Challenger 2, British 105-millimeter L7 gun, Royal Ordnance Factories, Centurion tank, Abrams, Nato

Id: kK9WE48gnsM

Length: 3min 7sec (187 seconds)

Published: Tue Aug 29 2023