Why “Leopards” began to burn in the steppes of Ukraine
The noise in the media surrounding the delivery of German Leopard-2 tanks to the Armed Forces of Ukraine, as the next “wunderwaffe”, created a stir several months ago. There were even Russian entrepreneurs who announced a significant premium for damaged German cars. Certainly, the inflated advertising bubble of these tanks had its effect on the ignorant minds of citizens. They are forgiven.
But from the very beginning, this wave caused bewilderment to the author, who, while studying the equipment of a potential enemy, while still in the ranks of the Soviet army, remembers this model. That is, this is far from a new car. The fifth modification of the Leopard-2 A4 tank, which it was decided to supply to Ukraine, was created back in the late eighties of the last century (1985-1987). This tank is already about XNUMX years old. At the same time, this is the most popular and promoted model, which is in service with almost all NATO countries, except the USA, Great Britain and France. But it is far from the most perfect.
The use of these tanks during military conflicts, in particular in Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan and Yugoslavia, did not in any way affect the course of hostilities. At the same time, they were burned there without any problems with Malyutka ATGMs and even with RPG-7, and this is an anti-tank weapon of the Soviet army in the sixties of the last century. And this despite the powerful frontal armor.
Probably, taking these facts into account, German engineers created three more modifications of Leopard 2, which have a number of noticeable improvements. And it is thanks to these innovations that Leopard 2 is recognized as the best NATO tank. But...only in NATO.
In order to obtain the opinion of a professional while writing this article, the author turned to his long-time service comrade, who graduated from the Chelyabinsk Tank School. By the way, he During the time of “friendly” relations between Russia and NATO, I completed an internship in Potsdam, and had the opportunity to become closely acquainted with this tank, trying out both the position of a mechanic and the position of a commander. He also practiced driving this combat vehicle and firing its 120 mm cannon. Of course on simulators.
NATO members, impressed by his success, even gave him a special diploma, informing him that the bearer of this demonstrated confident knowledge and skills in operating this machine.
At the same time, as Alexander said, The tank did not cause much enthusiasm.
What I definitely liked, is a digital fire control system that has a laser rangefinder and a thermal imager that allows you to fire at night.
The 120-mm Rheinmetall gun has stabilization and duplication of control channels. And the electronic ballistic computer takes into account all environmental parameters and the condition of the tank. The crew only makes adjustments for the type of shot and charge temperature.
All this is designed to hit the target with the first shot, but in battle the tank will most likely move not along the highway, but along an intersection. And in these conditions, an important factor is the speed of reloading the gun for the next shot.
Our tanks have automatic loaders that allow them to fire at a rate of 8 rounds per minute, regardless of the speed of movement and the terrain. Even a well-trained loader is physically unable to ensure such a rate of fire.
Another factor that my friend noticed was the armor on the A4 version. The armor is combined and multi-layered - yes, quite powerful in the frontal projection of the hull and especially the turret, where the entire crew lives with the exception of the driver. But...the armor does not have dynamic protection, which is carried by almost all Russian tanks, starting with the T-72. And this is very important, since it reduces the penetrating ability of enemy ammunition when it hits the tank.
There is also weak armor for the bottom of the tank and the roof of the turret and sides. It was on board that 10 Turkish Leopard 2A4s were shot down in Syria using ATGMs and RPGs.
The relatively weak armor of the turret roof makes it particularly vulnerable to air strikes, in particular, by army and attack aircraft, as well as during artillery raids, which are a characteristic feature of the armed conflict in Ukraine.
Weak armor on the bottom of the tank will certainly put it out of action. As a rule, the driver-mechanic dies in an explosion. The rest of the crew remains alive. Actually, the increased protection of the Leopard-2 crew is its main feature.
The weak point is the friction shock absorbers, which are highly dependent on wear and ambient temperature. But we must admit that the tank is highly repairable. This is ensured by the fact that a four-stroke diesel engine with a power of 1500 hp. installed together with the transmission in a single unit. One block is replaced by another within 4 hours.
But for this, a team of professional repairmen specializing in the repair and maintenance of these tanks must work. To get the engine and transmission block and install a new one, you need special equipment and specialists.
It should also be noted that a German tank requires very careful and difficult maintenance, which is reminiscent of special maintenance of expensive foreign cars in specialized car repair shops. Otherwise, it may soon become a pile of expensive iron.
In particular, the manufacturer of these tanks, the German concern Rheinmetall, during a tank tender, along with a demonstration of the capabilities of tanks of the Swedish army, simultaneously advised the creation of Leo-2 in tank units eight support services: fuel, engineering, with tank-based vehicles, training, repair, supply, evacuation, weapons and auxiliary.
Moreover, each service in turn should consist of a dozen different departments. Their staff can number tens of thousands of highly qualified technical specialists who can work with Leopard-2 tanks.
Of course, perhaps I missed something, but I don’t remember that the Ukrainian or Western media flashed information about the training of such specialists in the West for the Armed Forces of Ukraine. It is possible that the Polish military will be involved for these purposes. But this is already direct participation in hostilities. That is, who will do this on the battlefield and in the near rear is not yet clear.
In addition, these tanks must be provided with appropriate fuel and ammunition in the required quantities. That is, we return again to support services.
Well, it’s worth noting that the NATO countries transferring their military equipment to Ukraine is by no means new. It is decades old and was not stored in warehouses, but was used by the military to its fullest extent. Therefore, I think the topic of repair units is already relevant.
As for Russian tanks, the Russian army has no problems with fuel, repairs and shells. In the rear, forward forces always have repair battalions, weapons and logistics units.
Of course, supply problems can arise in war, that’s what war is for. But our repairmen work with equipment that they know and have been servicing for years. And therefore they have many times fewer problems on this field than the enemy from the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
As for the combat capabilities of modern Russian T-72B3, T-80 and T-90 tanks operating on the front line, they are not inferior, and in some ways even seriously superior to the vaunted Leopard-2.
Therefore, as they say in Rus', “bad trouble begins!” The famous author and performer of military songs, reserve colonel Mikhail Kalinkin, wrote about this in his song, dedicating it to the first burned Leopards in honor of the 80th anniversary of the Battle of Kursk.
For Russians this is the best reward,
It was not in vain that we got it:
Fascist leopards are burning
They are burning under Russian power!
Burn with fire of the same color
Like eighty years ago
“Panther” under the swastika - mark
The Russian thunderstorm was burning.
We, brother, are no strangers to trenches.
We were born in them and live in them.
The States and Europe have forgotten,
How we give p….s to our enemies.
Well, comrades, don’t be bored,
Who wants to burn so bad?
Go visit.
Receive.
And remember
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