Germany Leopard 2 - Bottom line: Leopard 2 is a very good tank. However, it appears to have encountered Russian anti-tank weapons and rebel suicide bombers.
Germany's main battle tank, the Leopard 2, has one of the best reputations in the world, competing for that distinction with proven designs like the American M1 Abrams and the British Challenger 2. But that reputation for near invincibility has backfired for Syria. on the battlefields and put Berlin in a uniquely awkward dispute with NATO member Turkey at the national level.
Germany Leopard 2
Ankara has offered to release a German political prisoner in exchange for Germany upgrading the Turkish army's aging Leopard 2A4 tank, which has proven to be woefully underpowered in combat. But on January 24, public outrage over Turkey's use of its Leopard 2s to kill Kurdish fighters in the Syrian enclaves of Afrin and Manbij prompted Berlin to freeze the hostage deal.
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The Leopard 2 is often compared to its near-contemporary M1 Abrams: in fact, the two designs share similar features, including more than sixty tons of composite armor, 1,500 horsepower engines that allow speeds in excess of forty. m/h and on certain models the same Forty-four caliber 120mm main gun manufactured by Rheinmetall.
Both types can easily destroy most Russian-made tanks at medium to long ranges, where they are unlikely to be penetrated by return fire from standard 125 mm guns. In addition, they have better targets with better thermal cameras and magnification, making them more likely to detect and engage the enemy first - historically an even bigger determinant of the winner of an armored vehicle than pure firearms. A Greek test found that rolling Leopard 2s and Abramses hit a 2.3-meter target nineteen and twenty times out of twenty, respectively, while the Soviet T-80 hit only eleven.
The modest differences between the two Western tanks reveal different national philosophies. The Abrams has a noisy 1,500-horsepower gas turbine that starts faster, while the Leopard 2's diesel engine gives it more range before refueling. The Abrams achieved its exceptional offensive and defensive capabilities using depleted uranium ammunition and armor, a technology politically unacceptable to the Germans. As a result, later models of the Leopard 2A6 now mounted a higher velocity fifty-five caliber gun to balance the penetration power, while the 2A5 Leopard introduced additional armor plating on the turret to better absorb enemy fire.
Germany's scruples also extend to arms exports, with Berlin imposing wider restrictions on which countries it wants to sell weapons to - at least compared to France, the US or Russia. Although the Leopard 2 is in service with eighteen countries, including many NATO members, Berlin rejected a lucrative offer from Saudi Arabia to buy 4800 Leopard 2, due to the Middle Eastern country's human rights and bloody war in Yemen. especially. Instead, the Saudis ordered about four hundred additional Abrams for their fleet.
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This brings us to Turkey, a NATO country with which Berlin has important historical and economic ties, but which has also been under attack by the military and has waged a controversial counter-insurgency campaign against Kurdish separatists for decades. In the early 2000s, in a more favorable political climate, Berlin sold 354 of its retired Leopard 2A4 tanks to Ankara. They represented a significant upgrade over the less protected M60 Patton tanks that make up the bulk of Turkey's armor.
However, it has long been rumored that Berlin has agreed to the sale on the condition that the German tanks are not used in Turkey's anti-Kurdish operations. Whether or not such an opinion existed is debatable, but the fact remains that the Leopard 2 was far from the Kurdish conflict and was instead deployed in northern Turkey, across from Russia.
But in the fall of 2016, the second armored brigade's Turkish Leopard 2 was finally deployed to the Syrian border in support of Operation Euphrates Shield, Turkey's intervention against ISIS. Before the arrival of the Leopard, a dozen Turkish Paton tanks were destroyed by both ISIS and Kurdish missiles. Turkish defense commentators have expressed hope that the tougher Leopard will fare better.
The 2A4 model was the last of the Cold War Leopard 2s, designed to fight in relatively concentrated units against Soviet tank columns in fast defensive warfare, not to survive long-term IEDs and rockets ambushed by insurgents. Counter-insurgency campaigns where every defeat was a political issue. The 2A4 retains the old turret configuration, which offers less protection against modern anti-tank missiles, especially the generally more vulnerable rear and side armor, which is a bigger problem in a counterinsurgency environment where attacks can come from any direction.
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This was a shocking illustration in December 2016, when evidence emerged that many Leopard 2s had been destroyed in the intense battle for ISIS-held al-Bab, a battle Turkey's military leaders described as a "trauma," Der Spiegel reported. A document posted online said ISIS allegedly destroyed ten
The supposedly invincible Leopard 2s; Five allegedly by anti-tank missiles, two by mines or incendiary weapons, one by a rocket or mortar, and the others for less clear reasons.
These photos document at least eight destructions. One shows a Leopard 2 apparently hit by a suicide VBIED - an armored personnel carrier packed with explosives. On the second, the tower was blown cleanly. Around the same hospital near al-Bab, three Leopard wrecks can be seen along with several other Turkish armored vehicles. The vehicles appear to have primarily fired IEDs and AT-7 Metis and AT-5 Konkurs anti-tank missiles, more easily protected by belly and side armor.
There is no doubt that the Turkish army used German tanks. Instead of using mutual support infantry in the combined armed forces, they were deployed in the rear as long-range fire support arms, while the attacks were led by the Turkish-allied Syrian Armed Forces, reinforced by Turkish special forces. Isolated in open fire positions without enough surrounding infantry to form a good defensive perimeter, the Turkish Leopards were vulnerable to ambush. The same poor tactics have led to the loss of many Saudi Abrams tanks in Yemen, as you can see in this video.
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On the other hand, the more modern Leopard 2s saw quite a bit of action against the Taliban insurgents in Afghanistan in the service of the Canadian 2A6Ms (with improved mine protection and even floating "safe areas") and the Danish 2A5s. Although some were damaged by mines, all were re-commissioned, but in 2008 a Danish Leopard 2 crew member was fatally injured in an IED attack. In return, field commanders praised the tanks for their mobility and accurate and timely delivery. Fire support during major combat operations in southern Afghanistan.
In 2017, Germany began rebuilding its tank fleet, building an even more powerful Leopard 2A7V model that is more survivable in a counterinsurgency environment. Ankara is now pressuring Berlin to improve the protection of its Leopard 2 tanks, especially after the domestically produced Altay tank has been repeatedly delayed.
The Turkish military wants not only additional belly armor to protect against anti-armor weapons, but also the addition of an active defense system (APS) that can detect incoming missiles and their point of origin and intercept or even shoot them down. The US Army recently authorized the installation of the Israeli Trophy APS on a brigade of M1 Abrams tanks, a type that has proven effective in combat. Meanwhile, Rheinmetall, maker of the Leopard 2, unveiled its ADATS APS, which it says poses a lower risk to friendly forces with its defensive countermeasures missiles.
However, German-Turkish relations have deteriorated sharply, especially since Erdogan launched a long crackdown on thousands of suspects following a failed military coup attempt in August 2016. In February 2017, German-Turkish dual citizen Deniz Yuseli, a periodical correspondent.
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Ankara made it clear that if the Leopard 2 upgrade was allowed to go ahead, Yücel would return to Germany. Although Berlin has publicly stated that it would never agree to such a cap pro quo, Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel has quietly moved to promise to improve relations over what looks suspiciously like tank-based blackmail. Gabriel presented the deal as protecting the lives of Turkish soldiers from ISIS.
However, in mid-January 2018, Turkey launched an offensive against the Kurdish enclaves of Afrin and Manbij in northwestern Syria. The attack was largely prompted by Turkey's fear that effective Kurdish control of the Syrian border would lead to the expansion of a de facto state into Turkish territory, and almost by the Pentagon's announcement that it was recruiting Kurds for "border security." force" to continue the fight against ISIS.
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