Leopard 1 - Origins
Since the advent of tanks as a kind of weapon, a “duel of armor and projectile” has left a special imprint on their design. By the end of the Second World War, there seemed to be some balance. One of the original criteria in the development of new combat vehicles was the requirement that the tank's armor should not be penetrated by armor-piercing shells of its own gun. Within the framework of this approach, all post-war tanks of the so-called first generation were created.
However, already in the early 1950s, serious doubts arose about the correctness of this approach. They were associated with the advent of anti-tank guided missiles - ATGMs. It was during this period that the most massive first-generation ATGMs were created - the Swiss Cobra and the French SS-10 and SS-11. They were carried out in a wearable version, and were also installed on cars, light armored vehicles and helicopters. And although their control system by wire was, by modern standards, very imperfect, nevertheless it made it possible to hit any of the most protected tanks at a distance of 2-2.5 km - a distance completely prohibitive for armor-piercing and cumulative shells of tank and anti-tank guns.
That is why the military of three European countries - Germany, France and Italy - came to the conclusion that that in such conditions it is much more important for a tank to have not so much powerful armor protection as strong weapons, high dynamic characteristics, and also the smallest possible overall dimensions. Moreover, good maneuverability and low visibility were given special importance, since these two parameters were almost the only ones that made it possible to protect themselves from ATGMs.
It must be said that the American M47 and M48 tanks, which were in service with these countries in the mid-1950s, did not differ in either. The question of creating a new, “European” tank was on the agenda. The technical requirements for the development of a single NATO tank were published in Germany on July 25, 1956. In accordance with them, the mass of the vehicle was to be 30 tons, the specific power was 30 hp / t, the cruising range was 350 km, the width of the vehicle was not more than 3150 mm, and the armament consisted of a 90-mm gun. The armor was supposed to protect against 20 mm projectiles at all distances.
In the summer of 1958, Rheinmetall first began developing tank main armament for the German Bundeswehr. This set a process into motion at Rheinmetall' then development and production centres in Düsseldorf und Unterlüß which the company continues to profit from a half a century later.
Rheinmetall was involved in developing the tank right from the start, as were Henschel and MaK, two of the companies which now form Rheinmetall Landsysteme. Founded in 1956, the Bundeswehr initially had to make do without a domestic defence industry and without German armoured vehicles. At first, West Germany' new military was equipped with the US-built M47 and M48 Patton tank. But it was not long before voices were heard calling for German troops to be equipped with a German tank.
The concept envisaged a vehicle that would meet the requirements of a medium-weight tank while simultaneously performing the tasks of a light tank in armored and mechanized infantry formations, i.e. reconnaissance and security. An earlier heavy tank was deemed to be expendable, since its only salient feature was heavier armor, and this was no longer capable of withstanding modern shaped charge ammunition, a situation which seemed unlikely to change in the near future.
In defining the requirements, the procurement authorities oriented themselves to the main potential opponent. The Soviet Union possessed a relatively new heavy tank, the Joseph Stalin 3. A modernized version, in service since 1952, was armed with a 122 m gun. Moreover, despite a combat weight of 48 tons, it could attain a maximum speed of 40 kilometres per hour. The Western Allies were taken completely unawares by the existence of this tank, which the Soviets did not deploy until the final phase of the Second World War. To destroy it, a new Western vehicle would have to be able to engage it a longer range than the Joseph Stalin 3 was capable of attaining. It would thus have to be low, fast and agile - and possess massive firepower.
The M48 A2C Patton tank, 3,000 of which the Bundeswehr received from the US in 1955, was only half as fast as required. Under pressure to achieve quick results, the Federal Agency for Defence Technology and Procurement (BWB) demanded that West Germany be able to field a tank of its own by 1961. Rheinmetall chief Carl Waninger considered this to be impossible, objecting that "the German defence industry won't be able to make the best tank in the business given the relatively short period of time available to it."
As it was, the German defence industry took an extra two years to develop the new Standardpanzer. Dubbed the Leopard even during the prototype phase, it was indeed destined to become "the best in the business". Although Rheinmetall did not take part in developing the vehicle, it was in charge of the turret and main armament. Waninger belonged to an advisory committee of experienced specialists which took up its duties on 14 March 1957, tasked with producing a prototype tank. Franz Etzel (CDU), the Federal Minister of Finance, provided the committee with a budget of DM 50 million - hardly a princely sum even at the time, especially given the ambitious task at hand. None of the companies involved could expect to make a profit from producing the prototype. The best Rheinmetall could hope for was an adequate utilization of capacity.
The German government put three working groups in charge of developing the prototype. One group consisted (among others) of Porsche and MaK; Wegmann was to design the turret. Rheinmetall developed the tank turret for a rival consortium made up of vehicle makers Ruhrstahl, Rheinstahl-Hanomag and Henschel. The company also developed the turret for the third prototype, which was designed by Borgward. In addition, Rheinmetall was responsible for developing the Leopard's 105 mm main armament.
However, the German government decided to adopt an already existing British gun, which the British intended to use in upgrading their Centurian tank, and the Americans for arming the M60. In this way, the Federal Republic of Germany took an important step toward standardization of tank ammunition in Europe, which would reduce costs and simplify logistics. At the end of 1958, Rheinmetall contracted with the German Ministry of Defence to develop a turret that would incorporate a 105 mm gun with the British barrel.
It was planned to install a multi-fuel engine, the presence of a system of protection against weapons of mass destruction and the use of a torsion bar or hydropneumatic suspension. It soon became clear that it was much easier to develop uniform technical requirements than to conduct a real design of a tank according to a single program. Therefore, already in 1957, the FRG and France decided to develop two types of tanks in parallel. In 1963, even before the end of the comparative tests of the German and French prototypes, the FRG finally refused to cooperate with France.
In January and September 1961, the working groups presented their respective prototypes; after numerous trials the Porsche/MaK design was finally selected. The Leopard met most of the German government's original requirements. Weighing just 42 tons, it was considerably lighter than the Joseph Stalin 3; with a top speed of 65 km/h, it was also substantially faster and a lot more agile. As early as the prototype trials, BWB decided to select a general contractor to coordinate manufacture and delivery of this complex weapon system. Following a yearlong competition, Krauss-Maffei emerged as the victor, and would henceforth be in charge of reading the necessary components and subassemblies for serial production, organizing the manufacturing process and coordinating the work of subcontractors.
In June 1963, a German tank called "Leopard 1" was adopted by the Bundeswehr. Development of the tank turret, conducted by Rheinmetall in cooperation with Wegmann, began in 1964, when manufacture of the 105 mm main armament and the two MG 3 machineguns for the new prototype tank began. This part of the production process took place in the former Gollnow Hall at Works No. 4 in Düsseldorf, the so-called "Big Building".
Final assembly of the Leopard tank was carried out here, something the vehicle companies originally wanted to do themselves - but Rheinmetall's proposal carried the day. In the years that followed, local residents in Düsseldorf-Derendorf - and especially the municipal employees whose windows looked directly out on Works No. 4 - were frequently treated to the sight of tanks being shipped by rail on a special track leading from the local freight station, to be equipped with a turret and main gun in the "Big Building".
The Munich company Krauss-Maffei AG became the general contractor for the production of a new combat vehicle. In addition, mass production was also carried out at the Krupp-MaK plant in Kiel.
The first Leopard-1 series tank moved off the assembly line of the Krauss-Maffey corporation in 1965. Foreign experts believed this tank had good mobility but inadequate armor protection. In September 1965 Krauss-Maffei transferred the first Leopard main battle tank to the Bundeswehr. It met the full array of requirements established by the German armed forces ten years earlier for the "Standardpanzer". As a contemporary journalist commented in the magazine "Soldat und Technik", "For an experienced tanker, the general feeling of going from an M48 A2C to the Leopard was like a cavalry soldier switching from a Holstein workhorse to an East Prussian thorough-bred."
Marking the formal handover of the first Leopard tank, the president of the BWB wrote to Rheinmetall chief Otto Paul Caesar: "The Federal Minister of Defence has requested me to express his thanks and appreciation for your outstanding achievement in developing the new main battle tank. The difficult task you took on seven years ago, and solved through multifaceted development work, made a material contribution to enabling the Leopard main battle tank to go into series production in its current form".
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