Ukrainian troops trained on advanced Leopard 1A5 tanks

The history of Leopard 1 tanks dates back to the 1960s. The A5 variants, introduced in the 1990s, introduced several significant improvements over the older versions. They feature the EMES 18 fire control system based on the EMES 15 system from the Leopard 2A4 tanks. Because of this, the Leopard 1A5 offers much more effective firing capabilities than tanks from the T-62 or T-72 families, as highlighted by Ukrainian soldiers.

"Our soldiers describe the Leopard as faster and more accurate than the T-64 and T-72 tanks," said Oleksandr Pawluk, commander of the Ukrainian Ground Forces, as quoted by Defense Romania.

A video from the training of Ukrainian crews on Leopard 1A5 tanks was published on social media by the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense. Kyiv has already received dozens of these machines as part of Western support, and more are expected in the coming months. The main suppliers of Leopard 1A5 tanks to the front are Germany, Denmark, and the Netherlands.

The Leopard 1A5 tanks provided to Ukraine have been upgraded to perform better in encounters with Russian forces. They have been fitted with Kontakt-1 reactive armor blocks, solving one of the tanks' biggest drawbacks: the weak armor by today's standards. However, this upgrade does not always work, and even an upgraded Leopard 1A5 will not match the armor durability of tanks developed in later years.

On the other hand, it is a more durable tank than many Soviet-era vehicles of this type and has relatively significant offensive capabilities, making it a considerable aid to the Ukrainian army. The main gun of the Leopard 1A5 is a 105 mm rifled cannon. Developed in Germany, the tank can reach speeds of about 40 mph on hard surfaces and about 25 mph off-road.