Leopard 1 - Design
The basic modification was produced from 1965 to 1970 in four industrial series, which had minor differences from each other. The features of the tank were a combination of a cast turret and a welded mushroom-shaped (in cross section) hull, as well as the absence of a rotating commander's cupola. Instead, a panoramic sight and viewing devices were installed along the perimeter of the commander's hatch. The upper frontal hull plate had a slope of 60 ° with an armor thickness of 70 mm.
The relatively low silhouette (height on the roof of the tower 2400 mm) made it difficult to detect the tank and increased its resistance to the shock wave of a nuclear explosion. The driver's workplace was located in the bow of the hull to the right of the tank axis. To the left of it was placed most of the ammunition - 42 shots.
The body of the Leopard-1 is welded out of rolled armor sheets. The turret is cast. The gunner has a stereoscopic monocular range finder and telescopic sight; the commander has a panoramic sight. The gun's control drives are electrohydraulic.
The tank's main armament is the British L7A3 105-mm rifled cannon (with combatload of 60 rounds). A 7.62-mm machine gun is coaxially mounted, and a second of the same caliber is mounted on the turret roof.
It should be noted that the final choice of weapons for the Leopard was preceded by a long discussion. Moreover, the caliber of the gun ranged from 90 to 120 mm. In the end, they settled on the 105-mm English rifled gun L7A1, which at that time was already installed on the English Centurion tank and the American M60. So this choice fully met the requirement of the NATO command to standardize the weapons of the member countries of the bloc.
The mass of a unitary 105-mm shot allowed the loader to work at a pace close to the rate of loading a 90-mm gun, with a significantly higher damaging effect of a 105-mm projectile compared to a 90-mm one. The gun was equipped with symmetrical recoil devices and electro-hydraulic guidance drives. The ejector, eccentrically mounted on the gun barrel in the zone of high pressure of powder gases, did not reduce the angle of descent of the gun. The barrel had a quick-connect pipe connection with the breech.
A 7.62 mm MG3 machine gun was paired with the cannon. An anti-aircraft machine gun of a similar caliber was installed on the roof of the tower, and for this, both the turret on the commander's hatch and the turret on the loader's hatch could be used. In the aft part of the tower, along the sides, four smoke grenade launchers were mounted. The tank's ammunition consisted of 60 artillery rounds and 5,500 machine gun rounds.
The Leopard was equipped with a 10-cylinder V-shaped four-stroke liquid-cooled diesel engine MTU MB 838 Ca-M500 with a capacity of 830 hp. (610 kW) at 2200 rpm. The working volume of the engine was 37,330 cm3. In the same block with it, a two-flow hydromechanical transmission ZF 4HP-250 was installed, which consisted of a single-reactor complex hydraulic transmission with a locking clutch, an automatic planetary gearbox (4 + 2) and a differential type turning mechanism. The total mass of the engine-transmission unit is 4600 kg. The block was attached to the tank hull with four bolts. With the help of a beam crane, it could be replaced by the tank crew in about 20 minutes. Fuel consumption was 165 liters per 100 km. The motor could run on diesel fuel, aviation kerosene or gasoline with an octane rating of 92.
Chassis "Leopard" included seven double rubber-coated road wheels on board, four single rubber-coated rollers, a rear drive wheel with removable ring gears and a steering wheel interchangeable with road wheels.
Suspension consists of individual torsion bar with telescopic hydraulic shock absorbers on the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 6th and 7th suspension nodes. Caterpillar brand D139A2 lantern engagement, had rubber-metal joints of a parallel type and removable rubber pads.
The crew of the tank consisted of four people. The tower accommodated three crew members: the commander and gunner to the right of the gun, the loader to the left. For firing from a cannon, a TEM 2A optical stereoscopic rangefinder combined with a gunner's binocular sight, an auxiliary telescopic articulated monocular sight TZE 1A and a commander's panoramic periscope monocular sight with a night illumination channel were used. The optical heads of the sights were equipped with shutters that automatically closed 0.25 s before the shot, thus eliminating the blinding of the gunner and commander from the flash of the shot, which is especially important when shooting at night.
The fire control system included an electronic ballistic computer. In addition, the Leopard was equipped with an air conditioning system, navigation equipment, an automatic fire extinguishing system and a heater for the crew. The tank is equipped with filter ventilation system. The Leopard may be "sealed-off" against nuclear contamination on the nuclear battlefield. The means of communication consisted of a SEM 70 VHF radio station and an internal intercom.
It is a minimum-maintenance armored fighting vehicle with visual lubricant level checks and minimum daily crew maintenance required. Properly fitted with external gear, it is capable of deep-fording or submerged fording where river banks are prepared for exit and entry. Complete engine replacement is possible in 30 minutes under field conditions.
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