Battle tank Leopard 1
The Leopard 1A3 tank was delivered to the Danish Army between 1976 and 1978, 120 vehicles in total. Though lightly armoured, the Leopard 1 tank is fast and well armed, with a 105mm L7 gun that was more than capable of dealing with any scouting vehicles of Warsaw Pact. In 1991, these tanks were supplemented with 110 used German Leopard 1A3 and 1A4. The Danish Leopards were very similar to the German A3 with the exception of a periscope wipe system, and the deletion of the round close-defence weapon blanking plate on the top turret. Also the turret was prepared during manufacture for a integrated fire-control system.
While the vehicle was in service, it was common practice, that one Leopard 1 in each platoon (the so-called “third vehicle”) was equipped with a dozer blade. In addition, two different recovery vehicles and an armoured bridge vehicle were acquired and developed on the Leopard 1 undercarriage, as was a special Danish armoured mine clearance vehicle (PNMIRK) on the Leopard 1 undercarriage.
All 230 units had been brought up to Leopard 1A5 DK standard by Falck Schmidt, Odense and Wegmann, Kassel (turret) from 1990 - 1994. The main purpose of this upgrade programme was to give the tanks the ability to fight effectively at night. They were thus equipped with a new fire control system (EMES-18), thermal sight and laser rangefinder.
A few years later, 36 Leopard 1A5 DK were upgraded to Leopard 1A5 DK-1, which were used on deployments in the Balkans. This upgrade added, among other things, a generator and an air conditioning system mounted on the rear of the turret. Not to be confused with the German 1 A5, the Danish version retains the welded turret.
With the Defence Agreement 2005 - 2009 made in 2004, it was decided that the Leopard 1 MBT no longer would be a part of the inventory of the Danish Army, and it lost operational status in 2005. The first American Sherman M4A3 was received in the early 50s, while the first modern tank, the English Centurion, formed the backbone of the Danish armour from 1953 to the mid 80s. In the mid-70s, the Centurion tanks were supplemented with 120 German Leopard 1A3 tanks. Both types were continuously product developed and extended. This development took place in close collaboration with companies in the Danish Defense Industry. At the same time as Denmark got battle tanks, the Centurion, light reconnaissance tanks of the types M24 Chaffee, M41 Walker Bulldog and the tank destroyer M10 Achilles were also implemented into the armed forces. In the exhibition at the Pansermuseet the vehicles on display are occationally exchanged. There are a Leopard 1A5 DK (62.427), a Leopard 1A5 DK-1 (62.486) which sometimes is equipped with a mine plough from the Israeli company RAMTA. Individual No. 62.425 took part in Operation “Bøllebank” (Hooligan Buster) in Bosnia in April 1994, and is therefore painted white. It has been returned to the Leopard 1A5 DK configuration as it was used in Bosnia, but had actually been converted to Leopard 1A5 DK-1 after returning home.
The 230 Leopard 1A5 tanks in the Danish Army were replaced in the period 2004-2005 by 57 Leopard 2A5.
Leopard 1 is powered by an 830 hp MTU MB 838 Ca-M engine. The vehicle is armed with a single 105 mm L7 A3 semi-automatic cannon and two 7.62 mm MG3 machine guns.
The Leopard 1 was created in response to the demand for a new Main Battle Tank announced by the Bundeswehr in 1956. The new vehicle was to replace the American M47 and M48 tanks. The design work and testing of the structure was extended until 1965, which can partly be explained by a failed attempt to establish cooperation with French companies on a new vehicle. In the end, however, a very refined tank was created, with good armament for the times, good armor, low failure rate and - as it turned out - very amenable to modernization.
The first German prototypes of the vehicle were created in 1961, and series production continued from 1965-1979, ending with the production of over 4,700 tanks. During serial production and operation, several development versions of the tank were createdLeopard 1. The first was the A 1 version with a new gun stabilization system. A version of the A 3 was also created with a completely new turret design and better armor. In 1974, the production of the A 4 version was launched with a new SKO (fire control system) and even more perfect turret armor. The last series-produced version was the A 6 with an improved SKO compared to the A 5 version and better hydraulics.
There were also modernizations made by foreign users, e.g. the Leopard C2, i.e. the modernization of the Leopard 1 tank made in Canada in 2000, consisting of reinforcing the armor and using the turret from the A 5 version. Due to its high combat value, the Leopard 1 was exported to many countries including: Brazil, Belgium, Chile, Greece, Netherlands, Turkey and Italy.
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