The main battle tank for Germany, as well as a number of other NATO nations, is the Leopard series of tanks. Until recently, their primary model was the Leopard I, which went through a series of upgrades before the Leopard II was fielded.
The Leopard (pronouced "Lee-oh-pard") is a good design overall. It's major strength is its mobility, while its major weakness lies in armor arrangement. It was the first major tank project of the post WW II German automotive industry. The tank started out as a joint German-French project (with the Italians throwing in some expertise) in 1957, as NATO began to reequip Germany to withstand a possible Soviet attack. The teams included such famous tank design names as Porsche and Henschel. Krauss-Maffei was awarded the contract, and the first Leopard Is were delivered in late 1965 and became the mainstay of the German army for close to 20 years. It was also delivered to other NATO countries, such as this vehicle operated by elements of the Belgian 16th Mech Division.
Another Belgian 16th Mech Division Leopard I moving through a German town. Though slightly narrower than the U.S. M-60 series tanks, one can still see how large these vehicles are. While this column passed, the tanks of the U.S. 2/32 Armor Bn had their tracks literally on the sidewalks of the village. When such close quarter movements occured, maneuver damage was not uncommon.
Notice the off-set searchlight and driver's position.
The Germans took serious efforts to upgrade their inventory of Leopard Is, especially as the Soviets began to deploy T-64s into the Group of Soviet Forces Germany (GSFG) during the 1970s. These upgrades included additional applique spaced armor bolted to turret sides, and a ballistically improved gun mantle.
The vehicle at left is manning a road block, complete with German MPs, a motorcycle messanger (lower left) and the ubiquitous controller (lower right).
Leopard 1a3 on a Grafenwohr gunnery range. The crew is loading 105mm APDS training ammunition through a small side turret hatch. This loading hatch was added on with the upgrades, and was not part of the original Leopard design.
The German crews here wear the excellent tanker overalls, which have a system of webstraps sewn within, allowing for easier evacuation of wounded crew members from a vehicle.
All tanks require extensive maintenance, and the Leopard I is naturally no exception. This Belgian vehicle pulled into position, only to then experience engine trouble.
When tanks break down, the crew is the first echelon of maintenance, and a tremendous burden is on them to get the vehicle back on line.
Users of the Leopard I include the Belgians, Dutch, Italians and Canadians (particularly the Canadian Lahr Brigade). There are currently prototype evaluations to examine the feasibility of upgrading the gunnery of Is to that of Leopard II standards (120mm).
