Leopard tanks power Ukrainian defenses with speed and strength

As part of Western support, many tanks have arrived in Ukraine, but the largest share has been German Leopards. Although the newest Leopard 2A6 tanks are rarely seen at the front, over 150 units of Leopard 2A4 and Leopard 1A5 have already been delivered to the defending army.

The Leopard 2A4 was developed in the 1980s. It is equipped with a 1500-horsepower engine, allowing the crew to reach speeds of about 43 mph. Importantly, the Leopard 2A4 performs well not only on roads; previous reports from Ukrainians indicate that this tank also allows for efficient movement even in the toughest terrain and mud.

The armament of this model includes a Rheinmetall L/44 smoothbore gun caliber 120 mm, 7.62 mm machine guns, and a smoke grenade launcher. A significant feature of the Leopard 2A4 is the EMES 15 fire control system with thermal imaging, which provides much better situational awareness than post-Soviet tanks that lack thermal imaging.

The Leopard 1A5, on the other hand, is a tank from the 1990s, marking the last serial modernization of the Leopard 1 tank. The EMES 18 fire control system was introduced, a derivative of the Leopard 2 solution.

The crew of this model has access to a 105 mm caliber gun and an engine with 830 horsepower, which allows the tank to reach speeds of about 40 mph on roads and about 25 mph on rough terrain. However, a drawback of the Leopard 1A5 is its very weak armor by today's standards. Ukrainians are trying to improve this by installing reactive armor blocks and anti-drone nets.

Although these are not the newest generation tanks, at the outbreak of the war, Ukrainians mostly had even older, post-Soviet designs. In this situation, the Leopard 2A4 and Leopard 1A5 have been a tangible reinforcement. Ukrainian soldiers have frequently emphasized that the German machines perform well at the front and allow effective opposition to the Russian army, whose ranks often include tanks older than the German Leopards.