German Leopards strengthen Ukraine's frontline resistance

As part of Western support, numerous tanks have been sent to Ukraine, with German Leopards making up the largest proportion. Although the latest Leopard 2A6 is a rare sight on the front line, over 150 units of the Leopard 2A4 and Leopard 1A5 have been delivered to the defending army.

The Leopard 2A4 was developed in the 1980s. It is equipped with an engine producing 1500 hp, allowing the crew to reach speeds of up to approximately 43 mph. Importantly, the Leopard 2A4 performs well not only on roads; previous Ukrainian reports have indicated that the tank also moves efficiently even in the toughest terrain and mud.

The armament of this design includes a Rheinmetall L/44 smoothbore 120 mm cannon, 7.62 mm machine guns, and a smoke grenade launcher. A key feature of the Leopard 2A4 is the EMES 15 fire control system with thermal imaging, providing significantly better situational awareness compared to Soviet-era tanks without thermal imaging.

The Leopard 1A5, on the other hand, is a tank from the 1990s, representing the last serial upgrade of the Leopard 1 tank, with the introduction of the EMES 18 fire control system, derived from the Leopard 2 solution.

For this model, the crew has access to a 105 mm cannon and an engine producing 830 hp, enabling the tank to reach speeds of approximately 40 mph on roads and up to about 25 mph off-road. However, a drawback of the Leopard 1A5 is its very weak armour by modern standards. Ukrainians are attempting to address this issue by installing reactive armour blocks and anti-drone nets.

Although these are not the latest generation tanks, at the start of the war, the Ukrainians mostly had even older Soviet-era designs. In this situation, the Leopard 2A4 and Leopard 1A5 have proven to be a substantial reinforcement. Ukrainian soldiers have often emphasised that the German machines perform well on the front line, effectively opposing the Russian army, which also frequently uses tanks older than the German Leopards.