Leopard 2A5

Leopard 2A5

Leopard 2A4

Leopard 2A6

Leopard 2A5

Leopard 2A4

Leopard 2A6

Germany

VIII Rank

Battle rating:

AB	RB	SB
12.0	12.0	12.0

Class:

Medium tank

Research:400 000

Purchase:1 080 000

This page is about the medium tank Leopard 2A5. For other uses, see Leopard (Family).

Description

The Leopard 2A5 is a Rank VIII German medium tank with a battle rating of 12.0 (AB/RB/SB). It was introduced in Update 1.87 "Locked On".

The succeeding variant of the Leopard 2A4, the Leopard 2A5 is distinguished by an overall improved turret front armour, most notably with the add-on armour bulks in the turret front, giving a wedge-shape rather than the flat shapes that the 2A4 variant presented.

General info

Survivability and armour

The frontal KE protection of the Leopard 2A5 against CL1343 at 500 m.

The Leopard 2A5 has improved armour compared to its predecessor, the hull is much better protected and the already impenetrable turret cheeks have more protection on the side of the turret. Add-on armour boosts the ability to protect against HEAT-FS and early ADFSDS rounds. The wedges on the front of the turret are able to be blown off if a round with enough energy hits it.The gunners optic is also moved into the roof to eliminate the weak spot which was easily penetrated by any tank.

One big changeover along with the armour wedges in the front is the repositioning of the gunner's sight. In the 2A4, the gunner's sight in the turret front presented a weakness that was easily compromised. In the 2A5, the gunner's sight was relocated to the turret roof, and so this weakness is no longer present on the 2A5. Additionally, the large mantlet of the 2A4 has been replaced by a far smaller and more armoured mantlet, making it far harder to hit, though most ammunition at top tier can still penetrate it easily.

The frontal CE protection of the Leopard 2A5 against MIM-146.

Be aware of Soviet tanks though! Most of them will carry their HE rounds that can easily destroy you anywhere they hit. A hit directly to the turret will most likely send fragments into your hull, penetrate and lets your fuel tank explode or at least set a fire and knock out the gun barrel.

Armour	Front (Slope angle)	Sides	Rear	Roof
Hull	35 mm (53-82°) Upper glacis 40 mm (50-51°) Lower glacis	10 mm (5°) Upper hull 35 mm (0°) Lower forward hull 20 mm (0°) Lower rear hull	20 mm (12-50°) All rear	20 mm (0-8°) Hull roof incl. engine deck
Turret	80 mm (57-59°) Right cheek add-on 80 mm (55-58°) Left cheek add-on 30 mm (63°) Upper mantlet add-on 400 mm (1°) Mantlet armour 250 mm (9°) Mantlet shroud	80 mm (20-22°) Right add-on 80 mm (22°) Left add-on 35 mm (0°) Forward 15 mm (0°) Rear	20 mm (10°) Basket 20 mm (70°) Turret underside	35 - 40 mm (80-89°) Forehead Armour 14 mm (68-82°) Forward sides 20 mm (89°) Rear turret 20 mm (83°) Basket
Composite armour	Front		Sides
Hull	Upper+Lower glacis 400 mm Kinetic 600 mm Chemical		N/A
Turret	turret cheeks 800 mm Kinetic 1200 mm Chemical Gun mantlet (Center) 260 - 325 mm Kinetic 600 - 690 mm Chemical Gun mantlet (Outer) 425 - 460 mm Kinetic 825 - 905 Chemical		Side armour 260 mm Kinetic 230 - 285 mm Chemical

Notes:

• Upper hull and Lower rear hull overlap (10 + 20 mm thick)
• Upper mantlet add-on and Mantlet armour overlap (30 + 400 mm thick)
• Holes in the engine deck are covered by 8 mm of mesh

Mobility

Game Mode	Max Speed (km/h)		Weight (tons)	Engine power (horsepower)		Power-to-weight ratio (hp/ton)
	Forward	Reverse		Stock	Upgraded	Stock	Upgraded
Arcade	76	35	59.5	2032	2,862	34.15	48.1
Realistic	69	31		1327	1,500	22.3	25.21

The only drawback compared to the previous model would be the Leopard 2A5's mobility since, despite the 4 tons increase in weight, the engine remains the same, so the Leopard 2A5 is both slower and less manoeuvrable compared to the Leopard 2A4, but it can still keep up with the other nations MBTs. The engine remains the same MTU (MOTOREN-UND TURBINEN-UNION FRIEDRICHSHAFEN GMBH) MB 873 Ka-501 engine which produces 1,500 hp (1,100 KW) at 2,600 RPM.

Armaments

Main armament

The Leopard 2A5 has access to the DM33 APFSDS shells which make it a deadlier foe as few tanks can stand against it with the exception of the M1A2 Abrams, Challenger 2 and T-80U.

120 mm Rheinmetall L44
Capacity			Vertical guidance	Horizontal guidance	Stabilizer
42			-9°/+20°	±180°	Two-plane
Turret rotation speed (°/s)
Mode	Stock	Upgraded	Prior + Full crew	Prior + Expert qualif.	Prior + Ace qualif.
Arcade	38.0	52.7	64.0	70.8	75.2
Realistic	23.8	28.0	34.0	37.6	40.0
Reloading rate (seconds)
Stock	Prior + Full crew	Prior + Expert qualif.	Prior + Ace qualif.
7.8	6.9	6.4	6.0

Ammunition

Penetration statistics
Ammunition	Type of warhead	Penetration @ 0° Angle of Attack (mm)
		10 m	100 m	500 m	1,000 m	1,500 m	2,000 m
DM12A1	HEATFS	480	480	480	480	480	480
DM23	APFSDS	410	408	401	393	384	376
DM33	APFSDS	481	478	470	461	450	440

Shell details
Ammunition	Type of warhead	Velocity (m/s)	Projectile Mass (kg)	Fuse delay (m)	Fuse sensitivity (mm)	Explosive Mass (TNT equivalent) (g)	Ricochet
							0%	50%	100%
DM12A1	HEATFS	1,140	13.5	0.0	0.1	2,150	65°	72°	75°
DM23	APFSDS	1,640	4.3	N/A	N/A	N/A	78°	80°	81°
DM33	APFSDS	1,640	4.3	N/A	N/A	N/A	78°	80°	81°

Ammo racks

Full ammo	1st rack empty	2nd rack empty	Visual discrepancy
42	16 (+26)	1 (+41)	No

Machine guns

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 (Loader)
Capacity (Belt capacity)				Fire rate (shots/minute)	Vertical guidance	Horizontal guidance
2,000 (1,000)				1,200	-8°/+20°	±120°

Usage in battles

The Leopard 2A5 is slower, but it has much better armour and access to the DM33 round. With these new changes, the playstyle changes a bit too:

• Hull down: In the 2A4, the gunners optic was easily penetrated so the hull-down was still vulnerable. However, in the 2A5, this weak spot is eliminated and the armour of the turret is much better, so a hull-down position can now leave the Leopard 2A5 invulnerable, but try to keep your turret protected as well, so then the armour package could last longer throughout the battle.
• Sniping: With the DM33 APFSDS round, the Leopard 2A5 can now make use of the great distance in combat to deal damage while tanking incoming shots. Try also make use of hull-down positions whilst sniping.
• Flanking: Due to the worse mobility compared to the 2A4, it is better to stick to more stationary tactics like hull-down and sniping. However, with a little bit of caution, flanking can still be successful.
• Staying with nearby teammates: Try and stick to nearby teammates as this can improve your lifespan throughout the game.

Modules

Tier	Mobility		Protection	Firepower
I	Tracks		Parts	Horizontal Drive	DM23
II	Suspension	Brake System	FPE	Adjustment of Fire
III	Filters		Crew Replenishment	Elevation Mechanism	Smoke grenade	NVD
IV	Transmission	Engine		Artillery Support	DM33	Laser rangefinder

The first modifications to research should be Parts and FPE. After those, aim for the NVD, DM33, Laser rangefinder, or mobility upgrades, depending on the desired playstyle.

Pros and cons

Pros:

• Excellent 120 mm gun, DM33 APFSDS is capable of penetrating up to 481 mm maximum at point-blank range
• Impenetrable turret cheeks, the add-on wedge armour makes the turret immune from every shell in the game (average of 850 mm against long rod APFSDS and 1,450 mm against HEAT)
• Extremely good armour on the UFP (430mm against long rod APFSDS), immune to every shell in the game except DM33, M829, L26, OFL 120 G1, 3BM42 and CL3143
• Great gun handling: 40°/s turret rotation speed (with Ace crew) and -9°/+20° of vertical guidance
• Side turret covered by add-on armour can bounce early APFSDS shells
• Gunner optics are now mounted on top of the turret, removing the annoying weak spot present on the Leopard 2A4
• Cannon barrel and cannon breech absorbs impact rounds which may otherwise penetrate the turret and injure crews
• Very good thermal imaging quality (Generation 2 for Binoculars, 800 x 600, and Generation 1 for Gunner's view, 500 x 300)

Cons:

• Lower glacis can still be penetrated by most shells (but is expected for most MBTs)
• 16 shells in the ready-rack may be insufficient when playing in Arcade Battles
• Huge hull ammo-rack if more than 16 shells are carried
• Hull ammo-rack consequently makes the tank extremely vulnerable to HE shells
• A penetrating shot on the left side of the hull will most likely knock out the driver, gunner and commander, thus destroying the tank
• DM12A1 HEAT-FS, though very useful against light vehicles, costs 410 SL
• The wedges can be shot off with several hits, though the turret cheeks alone provide 650 mm against KE
• Tank's weight is 4 tons increased while the engine is still the same, making the Leopard 2A5 slower compared to the 2A4
• Despite all the added armour, the turret ring and driver's hatch are both easily penetrated, and the enemy will most likely aim at these two spots to disable or destroy the tank

History

In 1988, German engineers began work on modernizing the Leopard 2 main battle tank. Improvements were made to the tank’s defensive capabilities, primarily the turret armour. Moreover, the 2A5 model was fitted with an electric stabiliser instead of the electro-hydraulic variant that the previous versions used.

The gunner received improved and less vulnerable optics, and the tank commander – a panoramic periscope with thermal imaging. The build of the driver’s hatch was also modified, along with several other minor improvements made to the general design.

Leading to the 2A5 modernization program being officially approved by the military officials of Germany, Sweden and the Netherlands. It is interesting to note that the models exported to the last two countries on the list were actually different from the ones issued to the German army – for instance, the Bundeswehr tanks received no extra frontal hull armour. Production of Leopard 2A5 tanks began in 1995. Overall, 350 earlier-version Leopards were upgraded as a result of the program.

- From Devblog

Media

Excellent additions to the article would be video guides, screenshots from the game, and photos.

"War Thunder: German ground forces Tier VI/VII- Review and Analysis" - Leopard 2A5 at 27:52

See also

• Leopard 2A4 - Preceding vehicle

External links

• MTU Defense Brochure
• [Devblog] Leopard 2A5: This Time We Are Dead Serious