Table of Contents

CONTENTS

(1) INTRODUCTION
Following the re-integration of West Germany into NATO in the mid-1950s, the Bundeswehr was equipped with US tanks under the Military Aid Program. Quickly realising they were not suitable, Germany began the design of their own main battle tank in 1956. The Leopard 1 FOV was the first fully-German developed family of armoured combat vehicles since the end of the Second World War, and owes much to the design concepts developed through combat experience during the latter stages of that war.


(2) THE DEVELOPMENT OF LEOPARD 1
• The European Standard Tank concept of the late 1950s – France, Italy, FRG.
• The competing industrial development groups A, B, C (and French AMX).
• Leopard is christened: 1 October, 1963.
• USA interested, but only briefly.
• The first production Leopard 1 leaves the line: September 1965.


(3) ANATOMY OF THE LEOPARD 1
o Hull, including description of crew positions & duties
o Turret – early cast turret & later fabricated turret introduced with the Model 1A3.
o Automotive Drive Train – engine/transmission/final drives
o Tracks and Suspension
o Main Armament and Sighting Equipment
– Optical & Laser; first NATO tank (1A4) with an integrated FCS
o Main Armament Ammunition quantities, types & stowage
o Secondary Armament: MG3 co-ax & AA; 76mm MBSGD; ammunition stowage.
o Communications: German inter-communication & external, standard fit.
o Water-Crossing Capability
o The NBC System

(4) SERVICING AND NON-TECHNICAL INSPECTIONS
Listing of requirements to maintain a Leopard 1 MBT

(5) THE LEOPARD 1 FAMILY OF VEHICLES (production vehicles only)
o Leopard 1 MBT – 1, 1A1, 1A1A1, 1A2, 1A3, 1A4, 1A5
o Leopard 1 MBT Dozer Attachment
o Leopard 1 MBT Mine-Defeating Attachments - MCRS & TWMP
o Leopard 1 Driver Training Vehicle
o Leopard Bridgelayer Biber
o Leopard Armoured Recovery Vehicle Bergpanzer 2
o Leopard Armoured Engineer Vehicle Pionierpanzer 1 and Pionierpazer 2 Dachs
o Leopard 1 Anti-Aircraft Gepard

(6) LEOPARD 1 IN FOREIGN SERVICE (and what makes each ‘unique’)
o Australia – Leopard AS1
o Belgium – Leopard 1BE & 1A5(BE), Gepard
o Brazil – Leopard 1A1, 1A5, Gepard
o Canada – Leopard C1 & C2
o Chile – Leopard 1V
o Denmark – Leopard 1A3DK & 1A5DK
o Greece – Leopard GR1, 1V, 1A5
o Italy – Leopard 1IT & 1A2IT (Later licence-built),1A5IT
o Holland – Leopard 1NL & 1V, Cheetah (similar to Gepard)
o Jordan - Cheetah
o Norway – Leopard 1NO, 1A1NO & 1A5NO
o Romania – Leopard 1 Gepard
o Turkey – Leopard T1, 1A1, 1A5
o United Kingdom – Leopard Hippo BARV


(7) LEOPARD 1 OPERATIONAL SERVICE
o Afghanistan (Canadian Leopard C2 MEXAS).
o Bosnia & Croatia (UNPROFOR Danish Leopard 1A5-DK MBT).
o Kosova (KFOR: Danish 1A5-DK; Canadian C1 & Italian 1A5).
o Somalia (UNOSOM German Bergpanzer & Pionierpanzer).


(8) APPENDICES
o Detailed data tables.
o Production Table – Batches, Quantities.
o Glossary of Terms/Abbreviations.
o Further Reading (books/articles/websites).

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About the Author

Australian military historian and author Michael K. Cecil is a former Head of Military Heraldry and Technology at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra, Australia. He is widely published on post-war armoured fighting vehicles including the Leopard. Michael also restores military vehicles.

Michael Shackleton is an authority on the Leopard family and author of the Leopard 1 Trilogy published by Barbarossa Books (2003), which at 600 pages in three volumes is probably the most detailed history of the tank ever published.