30 Years Leopard 2

It is the first deployment in which the Leopard 2 has been exposed to several attacks, particularly with improvised explosive devices (IEDs). According to Major André Picard of the Canadian Equipment Management Ram for Heavy Armoured Vehicles told defpro.com at the KMW celebration that the Leopards had suffered an unnamed number of IED hits and was involved in several attacks by insurgents. Picard did not confirm any attacks with rocket propelled grenades (RPGs) which have become one of the major threats in the combat zones of Afghanistan. However, he emphasised that the troops are very satisfied with the tank and its show of force and fire power has significantly helped to suppress any attacks. Picard confirmed that Canada will keep the Leopard 2 in the Afghan theatre as long as the mission continues.



The latest development for the next

Krauss-Maffei Wegmann has reacted to the altered operation scenarios and developed on its own the Leopard 2 PSO (Peace and Security Operations) which is to meet requirements form asymmetric mission profiles and military operations in urban terrain (MOUT). The PSO currently undergoes trials at the Bundeswehr Technical Center for Automotive and Armored Vehicles (WTD 41) in Trier, Germany.

An enhanced armour protection against mines as well as a generally increased protection is to diminish the tanks vulnerability in these challenging scenarios. However, KMW continues to rely on a improved passive armour as, according to a company official, reactive and active armour for the time being are not ready to be introduced with this system.

The PSO version is equipped with a FLW 200 remote weapon station. As the KMW official stated, this secondary weapon station, which can be operated from within the vehicle, again makes of the Leopard 2 an entirely protected system as it had originally been designed to be. KMW further expressed its hope that the user nations, including the Bundeswehr, may undertake a joint effort to introduce this weapon system with their Leopard 2 tanks in service.

With all the upgrades that were implemented to the Leopard 2 throughout these 30 years of active duty with many armed forces, the basic platform has remained the same. Changes have generally been brought about by the replacement or addition of the subsystems. This again proves the value of the original concept. KMW is convinced that the Leopard 2 is a significant security-political and industry-political contribution. In this context the company official expressed KMW’s wish that offset requirements – in terms of content and money – should be much stronger oriented at this special contribution.