The
Leopard main battle tank, is produced by Krauss-Maffei Wegmann (KMW), of
Munich,
Germany.
The Leopard 1 was first produced in
1963 and is used by
Belgium,
Denmark,
Germany,
Greece,
Italy,
Canada,
the Netherlands,
Norway,
Turkey and
Australia.
The Leopard 2 was first produced in 1979 and is used by Austria, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Switzerland, Sweden and Spain. Finland and Poland have purchased used German Leopard 2's and Greece has announced it intends to buy Leopard 2's.
The Leopard 2 is found in different configurations:
Leopard 2A6
- 120mm L55 smoothbore Gun by Rheinmetall GmbH
Leopard 2A5
- 120mm L44 smoothbore Gun by Rheinmetall GmbH
Leopard 2(S) (aka
Strv 122) used by the Swedish Army
- Based on the 2A5
- Has upgraded Command and Control systems and a new passive armour.
Pz87 used by Switzerland
- Indigenous machineguns abd communications.
- Improved NBC protection.
Pionierpanzer 1
- Basic combat engineering vehicle used by Germany.
Bergpanzer 2A1
- Armoured recovery vehicle used by Germany.
Gepard 1
- SPAAG variant armed with a twin 35mm turret.
- Length: 9.9 m
- Width: 3.7 m
- Height: 3 m
- Weight: 62 tons
- Speed: 70 km per hour
- Range: 550 km
- Crew: 4
- Engine: 1,500 hp
Army Technology
Leopard 2 Main Battle Tank (
http://www.army-technology.com/projects/leopard/index.html)