Leopard A1A1

Leopard A1A1

Leopard I

Leopard 1A5

Leopard A1A1

Leopard I

Leopard 1A5

Germany

VI Rank

Battle rating:

AB	RB	SB
9.0	9.0	9.0

Class:

Medium tank

Research:160 000

Purchase:450 000

This page is about the medium tank Leopard A1A1. For other uses, see Leopard (Family).

Description

The Leopard A1A1 (also known as the 1A1A1) is a rank VI German medium tank with a battle rating of 9.0 (AB/RB/SB). It was introduced in Update 1.63 "Desert Hunters". The Leopard A1A1 represents a significant improvement over the original Leopard design, most notably the inclusion of a two-plane stabiliser system and the availability of the DM23 APFSDS round.

General info

Survivability and armour

Leopard A1A1 Armour HeatmapoL

The Leopard A1A1's armour, much like its predecessor, is relatively negligible: designed with the intention of mobility and firepower over survivability, the Leopard will survive hits from little more than 20mm cannons frontally, and full-calibre rounds will have no trouble penetrating it. As such, the Leopard's armour shouldn't be relied on, even when combating light vehicles such as the M3 Bradley or Warrior IFVs. Notably, the Leopard A1A1's light armour often results in kinetic rounds penetrating the vehicle without significant damage being caused, allowing it surprising survivability against rounds such as APFSDS. It is, however, particularly vulnerable to chemical or HE-filled rounds. The A1A1 does utilise some add-on armour in locations (noticeable on the UFP and the gun mantlet) which slightly increases its survivability against some autocannons.

Armour type:

• Rolled homogeneous armour (Hull, Turret roof)
• Cast homogeneous armour (Turret)

Armour	Front (Slope angle)	Sides (Slope angle)	Rear	Roof
Hull	70 mm (60°) Front glacis 50 mm (50°) Bottom glacis	35 (39-41°) mm Top hull side 30 + 5 mm Bottom hull side	25 mm (14-48°)	30 mm Front area 15 mm Rear area
Turret	65 + 35 mm Turret front 45-200 + 35 mm Gun mantlet	37-45 + 10-20 mm	38-52 + 10 mm	25-35 mm Turret roof 20 mm Cupola area

Notes:

• Suspension wheels and tracks are 20 mm thick.
• The turret mantlet has a varying thickness of 45 - 200 mm thick. It is thickest near the center.
• 20 mm of track armour added onto front hull glacis
• Additional spaced armour is added to the turret, 35 mm on the front and 20 to 10 mm on the sides and rear
• Hull roof is rated to be 54 mm effective against HE.

Mobility

The Leopard A1A1, while somewhat heavier than its predecessor, still displays reasonably good mobility with a power to weight ratio of 19.57 when upgraded. Despite this, it will regularly face faster competitors - of note, the XM-1 (GM) and the OF-40 (MTCA). The mobility should not be overestimated - but it often is acceptable for flanking manoeuvres or quickly moving into advantageous positions.

Mobility characteristic
Weight (tons)	Add-on Armor weight (tons)	Max speed (km/h)
42.4	N/A	72 (AB)
		65 (RB/SB)
Engine power (horsepower)
Mode	Stock	Upgraded
Arcade	1,286	1,583
Realistic/Simulator	734	830
Power-to-weight ratio (hp/ton)
Mode	Stock	Upgraded
Arcade	30.33	37.33
Realistic/Simulator	17.31	19.57

Armaments

Main armament

The Leopard A1A1 mounts a late-generation L7 cannon. Unlike the original Leopard, the cannon is fully stabilised and can be comfortably used on the move, and negates the requirement of waiting for the gun 'bounce' when stopping. The A1A1 also has the optional DM23 APFSDS available as a tier 4 upgrade, with improved penetration values and ballistics. These combined make the Leopard a tank to be reckoned with.

105 mm L7A3
Capacity			Vertical guidance	Horizontal guidance	Stabilizer
60			-9°/+20°	±180°	Two-plane
Turret rotation speed (°/s)
Mode	Stock	Upgraded	Prior + Full crew	Prior + Expert qualif.	Prior + Ace qualif.
Arcade	22.85	31.62	38.40	42.46	45.18
Realistic	14.28	16.80	20.4	22.60	24.00
Reloading rate (seconds)
Stock	Prior + Full crew	Prior + Expert qualif.	Prior + Ace qualif.
8.7	__.__	__.__	__.__

Ammunition

Penetration statistics
Ammunition	Type of warhead	Penetration in mm @ 0° Angle of Attack
		10m	100m	500m	1000m	1500m	2000m
DM13	APDS	303	302	296	277	257	252
DM502	HESH	127	127	127	127	127	127
DM12	HEATFS	400	400	400	400	400	400
DM23	APFSDS	337	335	330	322	314	306

Shell details
Ammunition	Type of warhead	Velocity in m/s	Projectile Mass in kg	Fuse delay in m:	Fuse sensitivity in mm:	Explosive Mass in g (TNT equivalent):	Normalization At 30° from horizontal:	Ricochet:
								0%	50%	100%
DM13	APDS	1,478	4.0	N/A	N/A	N/A	+1.5°	75°	78°	80°
DM502	HESH	732	14.85	0.4	0.1	2,990	+0°	73°	77°	80°
DM12	HEATFS	1,173	10.50	0.0	0.1	1,270	+0°	65°	72°	75°
DM23	APFSDS	1,455	3.79	N/A	N/A	N/A	+1.5°	78°	80°	81°

Shell types

DM13 APDS (Armour-Piercing Discarding Sabot) is capable of penetrating the majority of the foes it meets, but these rounds do require finesse as to their placing.
Because the shell lacks an explosive filler, your best bet is to try and either knock out the majority of the enemy tank's crew or to destroy the enemy by ammo or fuel detonation through hitting their respective storage capacities. Keep in mind though that ammo and fuel detonations always occur with a random chance, taking out crew members is more reliable to destroy your enemies. This, of course, requires knowledge about the vehicles you may face - so be sure to use the game's X-Ray view in the hangar and analyse your potential foes for their weak spots! Also, keep in mind that with increased armour thickness the amount of shrapnels shrinks.

DM12 HEAT-FS (High-Explosive Anti Tank Fin Stabilized): Knowledge of potential opponents vehicle layouts, will be very handy to use - as you now have a round at your disposal that can penetrate any vehicle's armour frontally. Like the APDS shot, increased armour thickness results in reduced amount of spalling(shrapnel) after penetration. You are able to take out enemies on any distance, since the HEAT round is not losing penetration with distance traveled - very handy on big scaled maps like Kursk. Unlike APDS it has one downside: Given that it is a chemical energy round, its fuse is highly sensitive in regards to its practical application in battle. As a result, virtually anything, such as trees or even a fence, will set it off prematurely, so you cannot fire through obstructions with this kind of round. Lastly to add this round costs a lot of Silver Lions, keep that in mind.

DM502 HESH (High-Explosive Squash-Head) works very differently than other shell types. It ignores any angle, except for ricochet and deals damage by metal-flakes which are blown off inside the armour by the exterior explosion. To create this deadly shrapnel inside the tank, make sure to only hit armour plates which are a direct part of the interior crew compartment of the tank. Hitting exterior parts of a tank like spaced armour, the suspension, tracks etc. will not harm crew members/modules at all. Currently, only true armour thickness (as opposed to the line of sight thickness) will provide sufficient means of protection, benefitting the USSR turret designs and in general German tanks. Like all high-explosive shells, the fuze is very sensitive and can be set-off by most objects e.g. fences, trees, pillars. The slow muzzle velocity of this shell can make it quite hard to hit targets on larger distances, but at the same time it can be handy because it's trajectory will be an arc, making it able to land hits on enemies hiding behind shallow hills.

DM 23 APFSDS (Armour-Piercing Fin-Stabilized Discarding Sabot) is the best ammunition choice for the battle rating. It has great muzzle velocity and can penetrate almost every opponent frontally with ease, with the T-64B and IS-7 being the exceptions.

Ammo racks

Full ammo	1st rack empty	2nd rack empty	3rd rack empty	4th rack empty	5th rack empty	Recommendations	Visual discrepancy
60	58 (+2)	47 (+13)	43 (+17)	40 (+20)	1 (+59)	no

Turret and 3rd rack empty: 43 (+17)

Machine guns

The Leopard A1A1 mounts one coaxial 7.62 machine gun and one pintle-mounted 7.62 machine gun. These both have particularly high rates of fire, and can be used as a deterrent for close air support as well as clearing light obstacles and crew in open-top vehicles.

7.62 mm MG 3A1
Coaxial mount
Capacity (Belt capacity)				Fire rate (shots/minute)	Vertical guidance	Horizontal guidance
4,500 (1,000)				1,200	N/A	N/A
Pintle mount
Capacity (Belt capacity)				Fire rate (shots/minute)	Vertical guidance	Horizontal guidance
2,000 (1,000)				1,200	-__°/+__°	±__°

Usage in battles

The recommended usage is the Hit and Run tactic. Try to avoid the detection.

Scan and use the terrain to your advantage. Take into consideration the moderate vehicle height, which allows you to go turret down in certain locations, allowing you to safely use your commander's binoculars to locate targets! Then, after you have located the enemy, fire a few rounds in quick succession and relocate when spotted, especially when the enemy shots come dangerously close. The Leopard is quite fast, so taking hits from a distance while on the move is a risk that you may consider worth taking.

Always remember: The Leopard is not designed to take hits from large caliber guns, nor fight in stand-off situations against heavier enemy vehicles. Frontally, the angle of the hull can bounce shots once in awhile, but you're better off not to rely on this. The turret front is also the same, it's best to attempt to only fire when you can avoid receiving a shot or relocating to a position if possible. The main goal is to make the opponent incapable of returning fire. The majority of Russian tier V tanks (IS-3, IS-4M, T-10M, T-54s, SU-122-54, T-62 or ZSU-57-2) gunners are disabled by penetrating the right side of the turret or hull, if they are faced towards you. If you have the possibility to hit a Russian tanks hull, which is again faced towards you, prioritize it because it is likely to take it out with one shot to the right side of the hull (3 out of 4 crew member are sitting in a row). American top tier tanks like the M103, M47 or M60 are harder to take out. It is advised to take out the gunner first, which is located on the left side of the turret and then take out the rest of the remaining crew members. Hitting the ammo rack of your opponent is often the fastest way to take out an enemy vehicle, keep in mind though there is a small chance the ammo will not blow up (Best ammo types to ammo rack: HEAT-FS > APDS > HESH).

Sometimes moving is not an option, but remember, directly behind your hull front sits a large portion of your ammunition, at least if you're fully loaded. Always have that in mind when positioning yourself against the enemy - and don't forget that you don't have to stack all of your ammunition racks to their maximum capacity! Sometimes it can be wise to take less ammunition with you, as it will increase your survivability when taking hits - especially with the Leopard. The Leopards worst nemesis are the ZSU-57-2 and the IT-1. The ZSU-57-2 can be easily killed if hitting one of the many ammo racks in the big turret, which most often leads to an explosion of the whole tank. The IT-1 on the other hand can be quite hard to deal with, since they are able to operate perfectly hull down only exposing the roof mounted ATGM. Hitting (only black damage status counts, red damage does not prevent from firing ATGM) the rocket mount/cannon barrel forces the IT-1 to repair for a whole 27 seconds (maxed out + expert crew). To perform a full 360° turn use the neutral (N) or third (3) gear (~11 sec).

In a nutshell: Use the superb mobility with the cannon's perfection to flank and spank enemies, wait and hunt for the perfect positions and kill the enemy tanks one by one, while always maintaining a good situational awareness. Patience is key to success. That is the Leopard 1, a perfect tactical MBT!

The thin armour on the Leopard 1 makes it extremely vulnerable to all enemies in its battle rating range. The biggest nemesis to the Leopard 1 is the ZSU-57-2, which combined high-penetrating shots and rapid fire for complete decimation of the Leopard 1's body. However, a shot anywhere on their turret will hull break them and annihilate the ZSU-57-2.

Pros and cons

Pros

• Fast, agile, and a relatively good acceleration
• Very efficient and flat-shooting DM23 APFSDS shell
• Good optics providing a nice zoom for longer distances
• Wide gun depression and elevation, good slew and elevation rates
• Better fire on the move accuracy due to its good stabilizer
• Side skirts provide additional spaced armour, which protects against HESH shells as well as some heavier MG/autocannon fire, and can help bounce bigger shells

Cons

• Extra armour increases weight - slightly reducing mobility
• Insufficient armour (basically a glass cannon) for protection
• APFSDS is tier 4 modification - there is a long grind with APDS and HEATFS before it is unlocked
• Ammo rack in the front - a very easy target, and if more ammo than minimum is carried, the tank will blow up once the ammo is struck
• Small internal compartment (only 4 crew members) - a penetrating hit, which happens more often than a nonpenetrating one, can easily disable the tank by killing three crew members
• Stock APDS is rather lackluster, especially against angled Russian armor

History

Development

The project for the Leopard started as far back as 1956 as an attempt to replace the American M47 and M48 Patton tanks in service at the time as they were becoming outdated to newer anti-tank technology. Specifications for the new tank came in July 1957 asking for a design weighing no more than 30 tons, with a power-to-weight ratio of 30 horsepower per ton and could withstand 20 mm gunfire alongside protection against chemical weapons and radiation fallout, which was becoming extremely common protection system for the modern tank designs. The design stressed mobility as the main focus, while firepower comes next and armour was relegated to minimum priority. The lack of focus on armour was because of the belief that no matter how much armour a tank can have, it will eventually fall obsolete to the advent of newer anti-tank weapons such as the HEAT rounds, which was becoming stronger and stronger by the years.

In the initial stages of development, France, and West Germany, interested in this tank design, worked on it from 1957 to build a common tank and the project was designated the Europa-Panzer. France had AMX, SLD Lorraine, and SOMUA with FCM Renault working on the project, while Germany had Porsche, Rheinmetall with Henschel, and Borgward working on the project. In 1958, Italy entered into the development as well, though it's not sure if they provided much to the program. By 1960, Porsche and Rheinmetall had prototypes submitted, as well as AMX from France, all the others failed to provide a prototype in time. In 1963, the Porsche prototype was selected as the winner in 1963, though even before this decision the vehicle already has priority in being built in greater number than the others. Though a tank is set, France and Germany split in the joint tank project in 1963 after France opted out of standardization with the NATO forces. This left Germany alone with their Leopard tank development, which they continued.

The Porsche Prototype II was well received, though changes were made to the design such as a new cast turret, hull design change, and relocating the radiators. The tank now mounted the 105mm L7 gun over the Rheinmetall design, as well as adding an optical range-finding system for increased gunnery. The design finished trials by the end of 1963 and production started in Munich in February 1964. The first batches began arriving to the Bundeswehr (German Army) in September of 1965 and were put into units by November of that same year. The tank was finally designated the Leopard 1, with the prototype stage labeled as the Leopard 1A0.

Usage

After the first delivery, many upgrades were made on the tank throughout its production and service life. The first few Leopards were designated Leopard 1A1 and continued all the way to Leopard 1A6 as it incorporates new technology such as sights, gun, radios, armour, or even small upgrades or redesigns on some parts. Some of these Leopards are even upgraded further in each variant form, for example, the Leopard 1A1A1 which had it fitted with new turret armour and night sights. Other than the different variants, the Leopard 1 was also extensively modified or made into derivatives in roles such as anti-aircraft guns, armour recovery vehicles, bridge layers, and such.

The versatility of the Leopard 1 design and its rather cheap cost in comparison to other tanks at the time made it a useful tank and it was sought out by many different countries in and out of the NATO force group. These countries put them into service in the conflict, such as Denmark, which is believed to be the first country to use the Leopard 1 in hostile engagement, when going against Bosnian Serb forces. Canada also used the Leopard 1 extensively in the War in Afghanistan in 2006 as convoy protection units. Greece also had Leopard 1s and is the largest user of it, with over 500 units of Leopard 1A5s in service.

The Leopard 1 versatility and widespread use compared to other tanks in the NATO service made it a very useful weapon system for armies that couldn't afford the new American Pattons or Abrams tanks or the British Challengers and Chieftains. The Leopard 1 in German service was eventually replaced by the Leopard 2 design, which entered into service in 1979 as the main battle tank with better armour and better gun compared to the Leopard 1, fully replacing it in 2003. Other countries followed suit by upgrading their tanks to either the Leopard 2, the American M1 Abrams, or their own domestic tank designs. The vehicle in its various modernized forms are still operated by third parties such as Canada, Brazil, Turkey, and Greece. Some are kept in reserve in Chile and Ecuador due to their light frames and ease of use in soft soils like in the jungles in their countries.

Media

The Leopard A1A1 with NATO woodland camouflage and Bundeswehr emblem.

Videos

A Leopard A1A1 at Militracks on the move

See also

• Leopard A1A1 (L/44)

External links

• [Devblog] Leopard A1A1 - Modernized Blitzkrieg
• [Army-Guide.com] Leopard 1 overview page