TAMfYA
Having dre pefect
balince of tircpowü, alnor plolec
tion änd nobilitr
Ge ntury's Leopard 2 is $,idcly rcgx.
ded as the
belt Main Batrle Tank
(MBT)
in rhc wofld.
Borsdng such
a rcputarion. the Leopard 2 i!
cun€nliy
sLtpplied
to nore thai l0 nalions throughout
Europe and
wa!
deplo]'ed b) N-.ATO force!
10
Kosovo.
lDerrlopm€nt of the Leopard 2
Thc
roots of the Leoprrd 2 caD
be lbund in the l.rte
1960's with a
joinr
11BT de\elopürent
project
bet\rreen
Cer,:r)
JnJ le
I
\.
D,
.f.r.
p-o-c,n'c p
ilnrnF
ol
lhc KP7.70 prolonpe
(kno$n
ar rhe MBT70 nr dre
U.S.). d1e
projeo $as
abandoned in 1970. Wiih the
ab$donmen!
of the
program.
German) ulilizcd tcch
nobgies
de\€loped lor rhe KPz.70. such as rhe I 2
(]y
lrn
der waler
cooled lbuf-süoke englne,
geifbox.
a; filtclx.
and thc
cooLing and bn$iing syslem in lhc dcvclopmcnt
ol a ncw taDl
kro$n as lbe Leopard 2. Wirh the usc ol'
anti-lank misliles in
lhe YoIn Krppur \}hr
(1973),
inr
ponance
$rs phced
on
jncrcased
armor
protection,
re-
sulting in lhc dcieloFrent
of a ne\! spaced armor for
turrct ard chrsi\. In 1976.
lhe Leopard 2AV
prorotype
was produced
lbr tsting $iLh
the L.S. XMl. Feituring
thc
new multi-lalered amor.
r\ro nlajor types of turreß
wcrc prcduced
tbr tlre lAV.
one featurirg an AEG fire
coütrol
system !i ith a IO5rrun
LTAI nüirr
gun,
the orher
lcaturing a Cermrn llre
comoi system nsing a modillcd
Hughes fin control
computer
wirh
a Rhcinnctäll
120mm smoolh
bore nain
guD.
After subsequcnl tcsr
ing, thc Rheiünetall
ll0inm snooü horc rürct wils
chosen lb.
the Leopüd 2.
tion
oi the:A5 was lbllowed by thc 2A6.
q,hich
was
brsed
on the KWS I
plans.
Firsl comnrissioned
in
Marcb 2001. the 2A6 featured a
55 calibef 120 nr
lnoothbole nain
Sun
for highcr narzzle
velocity and
speed. and used revolutionrj LKE2
Di\,153 kinetic cn
ergy anillery lhat boasts rnivalcd peneaation
cap.tbili
ties. Sardng with thc Gcnnar 40:
rnnk batralion. the
2A6 is scheduled to replace all
Genran 2A5 lalks
by
2006. With the üse ol thc 2A6 rprcading
tlnoughour Eu
rope in countrics likc thc Ncdreflands.
Spain
and
Crcccc. drc Lcopard 2 coDtinues
to set new standird!
o!
dre lvo d's lcädnrg MBT.
ILa)'out
Featunng x l20mm nrain gun.
multilayered ,rmor
and
l,500hp cnginc.
thc Lcopard 2 set a new shndafd
in
MBT design. Despite
beiDg fitted with the iates!
tech-
nology. .onsenarive
use ofexpedmentäl innovaLion
en,
surcd unpd lclcd
rcliabilitl,. The Leopffd 2 fcatures
a
tradltional Lrnk litout !vi!h
d vjng companmen!
at dre
tront. tunct ccntc.cd in
the niddle and enginc
ar the
rear and is ru!
by dn othodox 4-m rea
ofconlmnn-
der
gunncr,
loadef
aDd d ver
monitor.
with the
commandeis coDtrols
capablc of
ovcrriding grnncr's
during an cnrcrgcncy.
Capable
of
locking on to
a target wirhout
changing dißcrion.
the
I-eopard 2
dilplays exccllcnt
acclracy whilc
on üe
mor€. The ciectronically
conbdled
rlrl]et is highty
rE
sponsive, with
a turret tunr speed
of 9 sec
per
tum.
,]nd
the main gun
featuring a üisllrg
speed of l0o
per
sec,
I MultiJayered
and Spac€d Armor
The Leopud 2 was
first developcd with
spaced ärnof
on the turre1 fionl
dnd sides, hull iront
and side sKns
äonf. While thc mateial
is shrordcd in ecrccy.
ir is be
Iieved lo include
a ceramic bascd
combination caprblc
of wilhst.rnding
borh amror picrcing
alrxnnnilion
drd
shaped
charges. Comprtcr
designed \redge
shaped
spaccd amor
fißr used nr rhe
A5. lvas also added
ro rhe
turrel fron!
in the A6. Thc Dulrilayer
ainor is
effective
.
er
f.
ihemicJl
$.aTör\
dnd krneu. erpr!)
urnnJn-
tion. aDd has
been dcsigned
to be easily nplaced
ifdam-
.rged.
lDngine and Transmission
The
Leopard 2
is fined wirh
the high-perfonrunce.
high-reliability,
high-durabilily
MTU M8873
Ka501
:17.600cc
wätcr
cooled turbo
chareed diesel cDeine
Ar
2,600rpn
this V12
four stroke
engine is cap:rtre
ot a
maxrmum output
of 1.500hp. When
conrbined $,ith
the
HSWL35.I aütoDatic
tansnirsion.
the Leopiüd 2 has
lop sp€eds ol lskm4r
in list gear,3lknh
in s(ond.
4skrr7|
in third rd
7lkn4r in fouflh.
nnd is capablc
of
accelemlng fiom
0 32kir,h in lcss
rhan 6-seconds.
With
a fuel tank cafable
of holdnlg xpproximarely
1,200 lrters.
one tank load c.tn last for
up ro l:10km
on
nolnai road
corditions. All coniponenrs
have been
!or roi.red inr'
u Do\emJ.k rhi
,Jr' l-.
qu.(l)
|.e
placed
during
acluai operadon.
Isteering a Pivoting
Conlrolled
by a steering u'hccl in drc fronr,
the Leopard
2 ha!
infinitely
variablc
tumnrg
capabilities thmk!
10 a
hydrostatic
/ hydrodynmiic sleeing
system. Nol
onl)
capäble
of a minnnum
tuming circle of 2.7m
in fißt
.err.
rhe
I
.nfrd
'
,an rl.o,ontr(r.
ur€
iu
I
pr\.r
^n
the spotin lcsl
than 10 seconds.
I
r/16 R/C
Leopard2A6
Dngine Sound
The sound
of the Lcopüd
2 MTU M8873
k501 en
grne
was digrtally
rccorded with rhc
cooperarion
of
Kr.t$s
Maftai Wegnann.
Al1 recordings
nnging tiom
cngine slan-up
!o full acceleralion
will be triggcrcd
by
the DMD nit.
marchjng actu:rl
movement of
model.
Il-€opard 2AI to 2^4
FollowiDg
fi$t
production
ofthe Leopard 2 in 1979.
the
second p.oduction
sedes was ntuned ftc Leopr 2Al
due ro changcs such
as adding theflnal lisnnr cnp
bili
ties to thc
gunncr's
pr;ma4r
sight. The tbuih
producLion
mn. the 243 fcalüed
a tull digital radio s)sle
,
s,hich
qü
rl(n
l^l^"rJ
b) rhc
rprr"ded
lA1. friru nB i
digital bdlistic conrputer With
the exceprbn.rl pcrtor
mance of thc ?A:1. the
Genn Anned Forces uplyaded
all prelious
Lcopard 2 tanks
to 2A4 se[ings. By ]992.
'nore
than 2.000 Lcopard
2 tanks had been
pr.ducad
for
domestic
use With ils reputation
for
perlbrmmce
and
rcliabilit}. the Lropard
2
quickly
became thc
slaDd,fd
tank in
Europe. widr Gemrany. the
Nelherlands. Swit-
zerland.
Sweden and morc thrn 7
other couniries adopt-
ing it
as drei. \{8T.
i;;-a a
-l
| !i
r^
.
"'
,,\
ia
I
.
f-
:'-,
\_=-7-":-
aCommandeas
panoämic
IMäin Gun
Wher
compaßd
lvith
the t4 caliber main
gun
of the
2A5. lhe 55 caliber l20mn smoothbore
gun
oflhe 2A6
is l.3m longe!
providing
higher
prqectile
velocfiy
lol
rncreased range and
penetration.
When
combined \!ith
Armored Piercing Fio Stabilired Discarding
Sabor
(^PFSDS)
LKE2 DM53 lmmuDiLhn,
the 55 caliber
main
gün
is c.rprble ol e$i1y pcnctradng
the tun€t fionr
of a T 72 or T 80 lank at r
dislaDce of tnore rhm
3,000n Wilh each shell wcighing
approximatell, 20kg.
27 shells are
stored
in the
fioDt lef! of the hull. wilb 15
shells slorcd in the rear
of the tLurrt. l.reaturing auronat
ic super clcvatnm
and
nruzzle
rcferencc s],stcm.
dre
main
gun
is crpablc of
firiüS uplo 9 shells a inulc
lNlächineCun
Based on the
MG4: used during
wWIl.
rhc N4c3Al
is
conrpälible with
N',AIO standard 7.62nrm
shells. Boasr
nrg an
exlrenely hi-sh accuracy rate.
the coaxial
MGIAI is
contrclled by rhe fire control
eystem and by
an FERO Zl8 lelescope in emergency mode.
lt ls
nrcunted
on a
gur
nount lbr increascd subility
and ac
curac),. Having a
gun
speed of 1.200 rounds per
minutc.
Lhc \'1G3Al
has a range of 1100 2.200m.
nre L€opüd
2 wa!
desigDed ro carry r total of 4.750 rounds
of
MGIAI
alixnunition.
lLirc Conlrol System
(FCS)
Fr.r in,r:lleJ
rn .hc
^5.
hr Pl Rr R
I Cl
pdurJr
ü(
connundeis sighl ftatürcs Dighi vision.
r:rgel
,]!quisl-
Lron and laser range lindc.
The
gLr
rer is equipped
wirh
aD EMESIs optic,rl sight, featudng
an inlcg.lred
laser
fange-hnder and lhcm.rl vision.
Vision fiol11
rhe
EMESIs can rlso
bc displayed on rhe connmndeis
IKWS | & lPlans
Wilh Lhe
frll of the Soviet block canc ncw challcnges
with
budge! culs 10 military spending.
Undcr this nes,
e"r. LheKWqplJ
,enrerte.l.
le.,tu-rnp KU\ L,,.d.in!
on improved weapons
and firepo$e! and KWS I with
rt r^c.F
on irrDro\eo .onnrnd rnd
, nrrr.
l
.).!ern5.
and a.nof pfotection.
Production bascd
on
rhe
KWS I
plän
w,rs piontized,
leading li) thc lf,opdd
2A5. The
?45
featured replaceablc rvcdgc shapcd nrultilayef
ar
mor
on the trrl]et. improved PERI R 17 panoranic
com-
mander's sight wiih thcrmal vision. spau
liner on the
Lurct
inierior tbr
proreclion
against
splintels. all elecrric
grn
conr ol .,rd,L,hi i/rriar'
){,
r'
for e1.\ ln nre
üance
and reduced noisc.
GPS
n,tvigarion
system. erec-
1ro pneunadc
driveas harch .ind .
CCD cameß |noun-
ted on the rear of tank for
high speed rcversing. The
245 u'as first commissioned
in 1995. and was deployed
lo
Kosovo as
part
ol rhc NATO forces
in 1999. Produc-
ITEM 5601 9,
56020 FICT LEOPAF
D2A6 FU LL,OPTION
COMPLETE
(1
05031 2)
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