The Leopard 2 is a third generation German main battle tank (MBT). Developed by Krauss-Maffei in the 1970s, the tank entered service in 1979 and replaced the earlier Leopard 1 as the main battle tank of the West German army. Various iterations of the Leopard 2 continue to be operated by the armed forces of Germany, as well as 13 other European countries, and several non-European countries, including Canada, Chile, Indonesia, and Singapore. Some operating countries have licensed the Leopard 2 design for local production and domestic development.
There are two main development tranches of the Leopard 2. The first encompasses tanks produced up to the Leopard 2A4 standard and are characterised by their vertically faced turret armour. The second tranche, from Leopard 2A5 onwards, has an angled, arrow-shaped, turret appliqué armour, together with other improvements. The main armament of all Leopard 2 tanks is a smoothbore 120 mm cannon made by Rheinmetall. This is operated with a digital fire control system, laser rangefinder, and advanced night vision and sighting equipment. The tank is powered by a V12 twin-turbo diesel engine made by MTU Friedrichshafen.
In the 1990s, the Leopard 2 was used by the German Army on peacekeeping operations in Kosovo. In the 2000s, Dutch, Danish and Canadian forces deployed their Leopard 2 tanks in the War in Afghanistan as part of their contribution to the International Security Assistance Force. In the 2010s, Turkish Leopard 2 tanks saw action in Syria. Since 2023, Ukrainian Leopard 2 tanks are seeing action in the Russo-Ukrainian War.
History Development Even as the Leopard 1 was entering service, the West German military was interested in producing an improved tank in the next decade. This resulted in the start of the MBT-70 development in cooperation with the United States beginning in 1963. By 1967 it had become questionable whether the MBT-70 would enter service at any time in the foreseeable future. Therefore, the West German government issued the order to research future upgrade options for the Leopard 1 to the German company Porsche in 1967.Krapke, p. 19.
This study was named vergoldeter Leopard (Gilded Leopard) and focused on incorporating advanced technology into the Leopard design. The projected upgrades added an autoloader, a coaxial autocannon and an independent commander's periscope.Krapke, p. 20. The anti-air machine gun could be operated from inside the vehicle and a TV surveillance camera was mounted on an extendable mast. The shape of the turret and hull was optimised using cast steel armour, while the suspension, transmission, and engine exhaust vents were improved.Krapke, p. 22.
Prototype development
Following the end of the Gilded Leopard study in 1967, the West German government decided to focus on the Experimentalentwicklung (experimental development) in a feasibility study and to develop new components for upgrading the Leopard 1 and for use on a future main battle tank programme. At first 25 million DM were invested, but after the industry came to the conclusion that with such a low budget the development of the two projected testbeds was not possible, a total of 30 to 32 million DM was invested. The experimental development was contracted to the company Krauss-Maffei, but with the obligation to cooperate with Porsche for the development of the chassis and with Wegmann for the development of the turret.Jerchel, p. 5.
Two prototypes with different components were built with the aim of improving the Leopard 1 to match the firepower requirements of the MBT-70. A high first-hit probability at ranges of and the ability to accurately engage targets on the move using a computerised fire control system were the main goals of the experimental development. The resulting vehicles were nicknamed Keiler ("tusker"). Two prototypes (ET 01 and ET 02) of the Keiler were built in 1969 and 1970, both of them being powered by the MB 872 engine.
The MBT-70 was a revolutionary design, but after large cost overruns and technological problems, Germany withdrew from the project in 1969. After unsuccessful attempts at saving the MBT-70 by conceptual changes in order to eliminate the biggest issue—the driver being seated in the turret—it became clear in late 1969 that Germany would stop the bi-national development. The assistant secretary of the military procurement division of the German Ministry of Defence suggested reusing as many technologies developed for the MBT-70 as possible in a further programme, which was nicknamed Eber ("boar") due to his being named Eberhardt. The Eber used a modified MBT-70 turret and hull, with the driver being seated in the hull. Only a wooden mock-up was made.
One year later, a choice was made to continue the development based on the earlier Keiler project of the late 1960s, instead of finishing the development of the Eber. In 1971, the name of the design was determined as Leopard 2 with the original Leopard retroactively becoming the Leopard 1, and Paul-Werner Krapke became the project officer of the Leopard 2 program. Originally two versions were projected: the gun-armed Leopard 2K and the Leopard 2FK, which would be armed with the XM150 gun/launcher weapon of the MBT-70.Jerchel, p. 6.
In 1971, 17 prototypes were ordered but only 16 hulls were built as the production of hull PT12 was cancelled. Ten were ordered initially before another seven were ordered. The 17 turrets were designated T1 to T17, and the hulls were designated PT1 to PT11 and PT13 to PT17. To test a larger number of components and concepts, each prototype was fitted with components not found on the other prototypes. Ten of the turrets were equipped with smoothbore guns and the other seven prototypes were equipped with a smoothbore gun.
Hulls PT11 and PT17 were fitted with a hydropneumatic suspension based on the MBT-70 design. The running gears of these two hulls had only six road wheels. Different types of auxiliary power units (APUs) were mounted in the prototypes. All turrets were equipped with a machine gun for air defence, except the turret mounted on PT11, where a remotely operated autocannon was mounted. With the exception of hulls PT07, PT09, PT15, and PT17, all prototypes used the MB 873 engine. The road wheels were taken from the MBT-70 and the return rollers from the Leopard 1. The prototypes were designed with a projected weight of MLC50, which equals approximately . The welded turret utilised spaced armour formed by two steel plates.Krapke, p. 27. The prototypes were equipped with an EMES-12 optical rangefinder and fire control system, which later was adopted on the Leopard 1A4.
In mid-1973 a new turret was designed by Wegmann saving in weight.Jerchel, p. 7. It was nicknamed the Spitzmaus-Turm (shrew turret) due to the highly sloped front. This design was only possible with the new EMES-13 optical rangefinder, which required a base length of only instead of the previous . Based on experiences in the Yom Kippur War, a higher level of protection than the prototypes' heavily sloped spaced armour was demanded in late 1973 and the Spitzmaus-Turm was never produced.Krapke, p. 30.
The weight limit was increased from MLC50 to MLC60, which equals approximately . The T14 turret was modified to test a new armour configuration, taking on a blockier-looking appearance as a result of using vertical modules of spaced multilayer armour. It was also used to test the new EMES-13 optical rangefinder. The modified T14 turret was designated T14 mod. and was fitted with a fully electric turret drive and stabilisation system, which was developed jointly by General Electric and AEG Telefunken.
U.S. evaluation of Leopard 2AV and XM1 Abrams In July 1973 the West German Federal Minister of Defense Georg Leber and his U.S. counterpart James R. Schlesinger agreed upon a higher degree of standardisation in main battle tanks being favourable to NATO. By integrating components already fully developed by West German companies for the Leopard 2, the costs of the XM1 Abrams, U.S. prototype tank developed after the MBT-70, could be reduced. A West German commission was sent to the U.S. to evaluate the harmonisation of components between the XM1 and Leopard 2. However, under U.S. law it was not possible for a public bidder to interfere in a procurement tender after a contract with intention of profits and deadline was awarded to private sector companies.
As a result, the modification of the Leopard 2 prototypes in order to meet the U.S. Army requirements was investigated. Following a number of further talks, a memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed on December 11, 1974, between West Germany and the U.S., which declared that a modified version of the Leopard 2 should be trialed by the U.S. against their XM1 prototypes, after the U.S. had bought and investigated prototype PT07 in 1973.Jerchel, p. 8. The MoU obliged the Federal Republic of Germany to send a complete prototype, a hull, a vehicle for ballistic tests and a number of special ballistic parts to the US.,. where they would be put through US testing procedures for no additional costs.
The Leopard 2AV (austere version) was based on the experiences of the previous Leopard 2 development. It was created in order to meet the U.S. requirements and the latest protection requirements of the West German MoD. The T14 mod turret was used as the base for the Leopard 2AV's turret, but meeting the required level of protection for the hull required several attempts until the final ballistic trials on 23 to 26 June 1976. Following the U.S. preference of laser rangefinders, the turret of prototype PT19 was fitted with a laser rangefinder developed together with the American company Hughes.
In comparison with the earlier Leopard 2 prototypes, the fire control system was simplified by replacing the EMES-12 optical rangefinder and removing the crosswind sensor, the air pressure and temperature sensors, the powder temperature sensor, the PERI R12 commander sight with IR searchlight, the short-range grenade launcher for use against infantry, the retractable searchlight, the spotlight, the retractable passive night vision sight, the APU and the mechanical loading assistant.
Due to the design and production of the Leopard 2AV taking more time than expected, the shipment to North America and subsequent U.S. evaluation was delayed. Thus, it was not possible to test the Leopard 2AV before 1 September 1976. Despite West Germany's wish that the Leopard 2AV and the XM1 prototypes would be evaluated at the same time, the U.S. Army decided not to wait for the Leopard 2AV and tested the XM1 prototypes from Chrysler and General Motors beforehand.
Two new prototype hulls and three turrets were shipped to the US: PT20 mounting a rifled L7 gun and a Hughes fire control system, PT19 with the same fire control system but able to swap out the gun for the Rheinmetall smoothbore gun, and the PT21 fitted with the Krupp Atlas Elektronik EMES-13 fire control system and the Rheinmetall gun. The Leopard 2AV fully met the U.S. requirements. A study made by the U.S. FMC Corporation showed that it was possible to produce the Leopard 2AV under license in North America without exceeding the cost limits set by the U.S. Army. Before the trials were finished, it was decided that instead of the U.S. Army possibly adopting the Leopard 2AV, the focus was shifted to the possibilities of common components between the two tanks. FMC, after having acquired the licenses for the production of the Leopard 2AV, decided not to submit a technical proposal, as they saw little to no chance for the U.S. Army adopting a vehicle not developed in the US.