Leopard 2a5 Tank, Made in Germany

The Leopard 2A5 is an upgraded version of the Leopard 2A4 main battle tank designed and manufactured by the German company KMW (Krauss-Maffei Wegmann). The first prototype of the Leopard 2A5 was completed in late 1990 and the first tanks were delivered to the German army in September 1995. 

Weapons

The main armament of the Leopard 2A5 is a 120 mm L44 smoothbore gun. The gun's ammunition consists of 27 rounds stored in a special chamber in the front of the hull, to the left of the driver's cab, and 15 rounds stored on the left side of the turret. 

The gun uses various types of projectiles, such as the DM43 APFSDS-T anti-tank projectile, which is said to be capable of penetrating 560 millimetres of steel armour at a distance of 2,000 metres.  

The Leopard 2A5 has two 7.62 mm machine guns, one mounted coaxially to the left of the main gun and the second mounted on the loader hatch. There are four 76 mm smoke grenade launchers on each side of the turret. 

Design Specifications 

The Leopard 2A5 consists of three main sections: the driver's compartment at the front, the turret in the centre and the power pack at the rear. The driver sits at the front of the hull on the right side. The turret is in the centre of the hull with the commander and gunner on the right and the loader on the left. 

The original hull of the Leopard 2 has intermittent multilayer armour. The armour consists of steel plates of different hardnesses, elastic materials and other non-metallic materials capable of withstanding 125 mm APFSDS rounds fired from a distance of 1,500 m. 

The interior of the turret is equipped with piece linings. The side skirts also have composite armour. In the tower, ammunition is located in compartments separated from the crew. In the event of an explosion, blast panels on the compartment roofs direct the explosion and fire away from the crew. 

Its length is 9,67 m.

Width 3,76 m.

Its height is 3,03 m.

Movement Capability 

It has a 12-cylinder diesel engine.

It has four fuel tanks with a total capacity of 1,160 litres, providing a maximum road range of approximately 500 km. 

Its maximum speed is 72 km/h. 

It can pass through waters 4 metres deep using a snorkel or 1.2 metres deep without any preparation. 

It can climb vertical obstacles over 1.1 m. 

It can overcome slopes up to 60% and side slopes up to 30%.

Combat Equipment 

Leopard 2A5 has a collective NBC system. 

The commander's periscope has a thermal vision sight, the image of which is transmitted to a monitor inside the turret.  

The commander's monitor can also display day and night vision images of the gunner. 

The rear part of the hull is equipped with a TV camera with a 65° field of view in the horizontal and vertical planes. 

It is equipped with a hybrid navigation system based on fibre gyro technology with GPS support. 

The tank is also equipped with a laser range finder to reduce reaction time. 

The fire control computer and laser rangefinder allow firing at moving targets at distances of up to 5,000 metres while moving over rough terrain.

Weight: 55,400 to 62,500 kg.

References

Compiled from articles published on https://www.quora.com/