Leopard 1 tanks will also go to Ukraine, but hardly to capture the Crimea
The picture is called "Waiting". Moreover, it seems that both sides of the conflict waited. And indeed, the Ukrainian troops will receive a gift that has been begging for almost a year. And we, in turn, waited until NATO began to expand supplies weapons and rake it out of all the bins to those limits, which six months ago could only be discussed.
But this gift somehow stands out from the general outline. Promising to transfer almost two hundred tanks of this type, the Germans seem to have faced an interesting situation for the first time: in the past, being the main manufacturer of these vehicles, Germany cannot provide them with the proper amount of ammunition. But, perhaps, more interesting is the fact that Leopard-1 does not at all draw on the status of modern offensive weapons, which, under the slogan “Let's help Ukraine return Crimea and other territories”, will soon flow into the Armed Forces of Ukraine, although not in rivers, but quite confident streams.
Begged for a long time
Kyiv began to beg for "Leopards-1" from Germany not yesterday, and not even six months ago. All this story with obsolete German "cats" began in April 2022, almost two months after the start of a special military operation.
This was due to the catastrophic state of the Ukrainian troops, or an attempt to enlist support from European countries. Or in general, all together - the question is already secondary and does not apply to the topic of today's material. Here, as they say, everyone will draw their own conclusions.
It is interesting here that Ukrainian diplomats, in an effort to receive cherished promises about the supply of equipment, went “to the porch” bypassing the German government. However, there was also an official request, of course, but the then Ukrainian ambassador to Germany, Andriy Melnyk, decided to turn directly to the Rheinmetall management with a request to supply the Leopards-1 APU in the maximum possible quantity.
In the office, the back of the head was scratched, the money was knocked out and the final score was rolled out: we can supply 88 Leopard tanks in the 1A5 modification, which have automation tools for preparing a shot, a thermal imager and modern communication systems. More than 110 million euros were required to pay for their delivery, technical documentation, training of crews and repair crews - in the end, taxpayers represented by ordinary burghers will pay for the banquet.
Then the German government gave a ride to this small-town initiative - after all, the myths about the red lines were still alive, and NATO countries did not have any agreement on heavy weapons for Kyiv. Now, of course, they wanted to spit on all these prohibitions. Sooner or later, the old German "cats" in the trains will roll in an orderly stream across the Polish-Ukrainian border.
True, Olaf Scholz himself does not seem to know what to do with the lack of specific ammunition for them. However, they will find it, you should not hope for a total shortage - for the same Gepard ZSU, the Germans restored the long-terminated production of shells.
But for the role of the offensive "wunderwaffe" tanks are a stretch. It is worth dwelling on this in more detail.
The tank is not the first freshness
Here, of course, it would be worth starting with the usual phrases that any tank is a tank, and it will be used as a tank with all the ensuing consequences. There is no point in arguing with this, because it is true. However, any vehicle has a combat capability limit that must be reckoned with and the combat vehicle must be used in accordance with it.
By itself, the Leopard is a car that is far from the first freshness, even if it has gone through several waves of modernization. Recall that it was developed back in the second half of the fifties, when Germany, together with France and Italy, decided to create a single "European" tank. However, nothing came of this idea, however, as a result, the French got their own AMX-30, and the Germans got the same Leopard, which was adopted by the Bundeswehr in 1965.
In general, the tank did not differ radically from its counterparts: after all, the layout is classic, the number of crew members is also “according to the classics” - four people, including the loader. And the very concept of the car and the compromises that the engineers had to make during its development are quite interesting.
Tanks "Leopard" early batches
First of all, the shift in the balance of vehicle characteristics towards powerful weapons at that time, good mobility, ease of transportation and improved ergonomics catches the eye. At the same time, the reservation of the tank, when compared, for example, with Soviet classmates, was a secondary item on the list.
The powerful British rifled 105-mm L7 gun, which was considered one of the best in the world before the advent of larger caliber guns, coupled with an 830-horsepower diesel engine and hydromechanical transmission, could give a tank weighing about 40 tons a great advantage in many combat situations. Still, an extremely powerful “babaha” on a moving chassis can do a lot of things.
In contrast to this, booking the Leopard could not please with impressive results. The hull of the tank in the frontal part had a maximum thickness of armor plates of 70 mm, set at an angle of 60 degrees. On the sides, the thickness of the armor varied from 35 to 45 mm. At the same time, it should be noted that these indicators did not change during mass production, so no protection corresponding to real threats was provided, except for small-caliber guns and fragments from artillery shell explosions.
The cast turrets of the tanks of the first releases in the frontal projection were protected by massive wedge-shaped gun mantlets up to 100 mm thick. The maximum thickness of the turret sides reached approximately 60 mm, and the roofs - up to 45 mm. However, in subsequent modifications, the tank turrets were equipped with additional armor, but even this could not provide reliable protection against all armor-piercing shells of the Great Patriotic War, not to mention more modern examples.
This is precisely the limiting factor, which is far from the last in importance, which can be acutely manifested when using Leopard-1 in Ukraine. Of course, one of the latest modifications of the tank in the face of the Leopard-1A5 will be delivered to Kyiv. These vehicles are equipped with thermal imaging sights and a Leopard-2 fire control system, which includes both a laser rangefinder and a ballistic computer with a set of firing conditions sensors that monitor weather conditions, the position of your own tank in space, target speed, and so on. In general, the tank can still show itself.
It is not necessary to write off his tool. Shells to him are now frantically trying to find the German authorities, begging for them from Brazil, then from Belgium. In the end, they will find it anyway, they will not go anywhere. And the nomenclature of the gun is very rich: only Belgian-designed sub-caliber shells from the early 125s show the results of armor penetration at the level of late Soviet shells for XNUMX-mm guns.
However, security issues are simply huge. Here it is interesting to give an interpretation of the concept of "main tank", which "Leopard-1" is, adopted in the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe in 1990.
The resistance to these very weapons, which the Leopard-1A5 possesses, was not fully relevant even at the time of its adoption. Now, when the development of anti-tank weapons has stepped far forward, both in terms of penetrating ability and accuracy, such meager armor cannot provide any guarantee of protection.
Leopard-1А5
Any old ATGM or grenade launcher, not to mention more modern models, can become a real threat to a tank. And given that the appearance of a tank in the field of view usually entails consequences in the form that everything starts to fly into it, about any bravado in the style of “put together a battalion from Leopards” and trample on the Crimea in the forefront, most likely, there will be no speech. And there are suspicions that Kyiv is well aware of this.
Where to put him then?
"Leopard-1" and its modification A5 are not as specific a car as the same French "wheel" AMX-10RCR. No one will brainstorm how to integrate it into the structure of the Ukrainian troops. It's still a normal tank. And will be used accordingly.
With a high degree of probability, the Ukrainian command will form companies and, accordingly, battalions, consisting exclusively of these combat vehicles. The reasons for this are clear: the supply of spare parts and ammunition, specially trained repair units and difficulties with communication synchronization simply will not allow German Leopards to dilute formations that are armed with Soviet-style tanks - there is no logic in this.
The only question is where these "leopard units" will be deployed and how they will be used. Still, the limitations of tanks in the form of weak armor and the fundamental absence of combat information and control systems (they can become one of the main trump cards of more recent "NATO" tanks) will not make them the main strike force of the first order.
The most likely scenario, which, by the way, some Western experts are talking about, is the deployment of formations armed with Leopards-1 in less threatened areas, including, for example, the Belarusian one.
Recall that a fairly large united Russian-Belarusian group is forcing Kyiv to keep part of its troops in the north - near the borders with the Republic of Belarus. Naturally, we are talking about tank units.
In this regard, the Leopard-1 battalions look like a profitable replacement, which will free up more combat-ready tanks for use in threatened areas, and in particular in the east, where Russian and allied forces are now demonstrating effective offensive attempts.
In any case, this is just speculation. Not a single Leopard-1 has yet appeared on the territory of Ukraine, and this appearance is still far away. However, as they say, we will see.
- Edward Perov
- wikipedia.org/dzen.ru
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