Christmas is gone, but Ukraine still longs for Europe to leave military equipment under the tree to continue its offensives against Russian forces. The climb has been dizzying. If in principle kyiv requested anti-tank weapons or international volunteers, now it has asked twelve countries – including Spain – for the delivery of Leopard tanks, the spearhead and at the same time the backbone of the armored divisions of the old continent. It does not seem that the vehicle, equivalent in performance to the North American M1 Abrams, and among the most modern today, comes to savor war. And it is that Germany, the nation with the singing voice for having designed it, is still reluctant to let it escape.
This is the Spanish Leopard tank
The eyes now fall on a Spain that, although it depends on its Teutonic neighbor to send its Leopardo-2E –the ‘made in Spain’ version of the tank–, has one of the largest fleets in Europe. Currently, our armed forces operate a whopping 347 units of two types: the most authentic and the 2A4. Although of all of them, around a hundred are not in a condition to fight. The reality, however, is that the number and characteristics of this tank make it one of the most reliable and lethal on the battlefield. ABC already said it in the nineties, when the first ones left the factories:
Along with the M1 Abrams, it represents the spearhead of Western armored units. It has exceptional mobility on the battlefield, long range and great firepower.”
Today they remain the same. Designed by the companyKrauss Maffei Wegmann‘, the most basic Leopard 2 weighs 55 tons; It can acquire a maximum speed of 68 kilometers per hour on the highway; It has about 500 kilometers of autonomy and is operated by four crew members. They also mount a Rheinmetall 120-millimeter cannon and two 7.62-caliber machine guns. In all this, in essence, it is similar to the M1 Abrams, its great competitor outside Europe. The armor systems deserve to be mentioned in depth, but it is enough to point out that their maximum thickness is 800 mm. Almost nothing. Its most modern version is the A7, technologically leading-edge and among the heaviest on the market.
Although the M1 Abrams has swallowed more dust, the truth is that the Leopard does not lag behind. Version 2 was used, according to the authors of the joint ‘Military Technology’ essay, in Kosovo with the German army; in Afghanistan with Dutch, Danish and Canadian contributions to the International Security Assistance Force and in Syria with the Turkish armed forces against ISIS. Where they have suffered the most has been, precisely, in the fight against fundamentalism. By the end of 2016, Daesh had captured or destroyed a dozen. All in all, the different versions have proven their worth in protection and security missions alongside the Teutons.
Hard choice of tanks
But… What is the Spanish version like and what differences does it treasure? Its origin dates back to 1989, when Spain began the search for a heavy vehicle in neighboring countries. And he did it with several objectives. The first, to retire its outdated armored park; the second, to unify the models of the three Weapons. This was explained by the chief of the Army General Staff, Alfonso Pardo de Santayana, in the pages of ABC: “Spain needs a balanced and homogeneous Army that is a deterrent due to its quality, its high availability and its projection capacity”. Although already at that time the Leopard mallard, our country had to accept the arrival of 160 M-60 A1, 260 M-60 A3 and a hundred TOA transports. All of them, armored from a previous generation, but that served to alleviate the initial problems.
That was an ephemeral patch that ended up coming off his clothes shortly after, back in 1995. In full European effervescence, Germany offered Spain the transfer –in principle, under the rental formula– of 108 battle tanks Leopard to supplement their armored forces. ABC explained at that time that they would arrive in two batches – the first of them, of 54 – and that they would be assigned to the Euroarmy: “They will equip two battalions of the five that this division will have and the transfer will entail Spanish compensation such as facilitating the German Armed Forces the possibility of exercising in maneuver fields of our country”. Things of international agreements.
A Danish Leopard 2 passes a unit of Marines
At the same time, our country reached an agreement with the Teutonic neighbor to manufacture a Spanish version of the Leopard, the Leopard, on the peninsula since 1998. “Today Spain will sign a letter of intent for industrial cooperation in the field of Defense in the Dutch town of Noordwijk,” reported ABC. From the beginning, a co-manufacture that would be carried out by Santa Bárbara Sistemas was suspected, although its merger with General Dynamics shortly thereafter caused countless delays. The project was the second leg of the Shell Program, which included the Pizarro infantry fighting vehicle. Their objective: to match the homeland Armored Forces to their European equivalents.
In 1999, ABC made the news public: “Leopardo-2E, new workhorse of the Army.” At last, the cat had been accepted. The official approval to begin its manufacture had come from the Council of Ministers in December 1998. Tanks would be built for a value of 317,000 million old pesetas: 235 vehicles. “Of the 219 of the line, 207 will be assigned to the maneuver force and 12 will be dedicated to tactical and operational teaching in the future common instruction and training center that will be built next to the Aragonese shooting range of San Gregorio,” explained the Pen by Miguel Portilla.
However, the delivery of the first units was delayed until 2004, when the first seven left the SBB factory in Alcalá de Guadaira. The delivery ceremony was presided over by the monarch between loas and cheers.
Leopard, a wonder tank
It was (and still is) a marvel of overwhelming power. As published by ABC, that first version mounted a 120-millimeter smoothbore cannon –a caliber similar to that of the M1 Abrams of the time– with ammunition for 42 salutes. In addition, it had the ability to fire on the move at a speed of 20 kilometers per hour thanks to the support of a fire direction system with a digital ballistic computer. “Once the shooter takes a target, he has it permanently focused even if the driver turns or the car saves small irregularities in the terrain,” the newspaper revealed. In this sense, he was also comparable to his American older brother. Nothing to envy those of the stars and stripes.
The Leopardo-2E could also use the three classic types of ammunition. The most rudimentary was the high-explosive antipersonnel. “It is the basic projectile of the Leopard 2. The case is made of semi-combustible material that burns when shot, which saves space,” revealed ABC. The second, high-explosive anti-tank, was the usual one to finish off enemy tanks: «The H.E.A.T. ammo launches a projectile at a critical distance from the target penetrating the armor. The last one was the high speed tank destroyer. “The inner dart separates from its casing and hits the enemy tank at a great distance, piercing its armor,” the newspaper completed.
Leopard 2E main battle tanks of the XI “Extremadura” Mechanized Infantry Brigade
At the defensive level he was just as sharp. For starters, his silhouette was “smaller than traditional tanks due to being shorter”, which made him a smaller target. The data goes ahead. The Spanish tank added 3 meters high; in return, its more direct predecessor, the M-60, was about eight inches longer. “It also greatly decreases the thermal signature, that is, the heat it gives off, something essential to try to avoid attracting enemy missiles.”
Finally, ABC reported that it was going to be equipped with reactive armor made up of a series of explosive plates designed to separate from the vehicle and intercept the projectile before its arrival. Today, however, you do not have this type of protection. What the Leopard 2 did originally have was the so-called multilayer reactive armor. Namely: several superimposed armored sheets with a space between them that prevent the rocket or missile from reaching the heart of the tank.
Most of the characteristics were comparable to those ofl M1-Abrams, which is not little. In addition, it surpassed the T-90A in several fields, the Russian tank designed in the nineties to replace the already old T-62 and T-72 still active. Only his mobility on the battlefield lacked; normal, due to its weight. In this field, his opponent to the east outnumbered him by adding forty-six and a half tons. The key, as has been seen throughout these months in Ukraine, is that Vladimir Putin it still doesn’t have enough of them and has to rely on its predecessors. The big bear, which has become a bear cub.