German "Leopard": a tank, popular in many countries of the world

The main military machine in Germany is the "Leopard 2". The tank was created in 1979 and by now has several modifications. In the process of its development, the concepts of cannon and rocket weapons were worked out. I won the version with a classic gun. The German tank "Leopard" is in service in different countries around the world. Since the beginning of production, 3,500 armored vehicles have been manufactured.

The tank has a classic design. In the control sector are: filtration equipment, part of the ammunition and the driver.

"Leopard" - a tank with high performance. When developing the machine, the creators paid maximum attention to firepower. The question of choosing the gun was very acute. The designers argued for a long time, choosing between the rifled gun 105 mm and the smoothbore gun 120 mm. As a result, it was the smoothbore armament designers who installed the Leopard. The tank was the first machine in the West to receive a 120 mm smoothbore gun.

On the body of the machine is mounted a welded three-place tower, where the charging, gunner and commander are placed. With the help of sectoral thread technology, the articulation of the trunk and breech was made quick-disconnect. This is one of the merits of the Leopard combat vehicle. The tank is a structure in which the gun is mounted and removed through the embrasure, without dismantling the tower itself. The gun is equipped with two symmetrical reliable compensators. The greatest force, amortizing the rollback of the gun during the shooting, is concentrated at the level of the tank. This is done in order to reduce the load on the tower. Due to the fact that the gun has a heavy weight (about 4.3 tons), the negative impact of the effects of the shot on its accuracy is minimized. This is a big plus of the Leopard combat vehicle. The tank according to this indicator is considered one of the best in the world.

The barrel of the gun is equipped with a heat-resistant fiberglass casing. Closer to the breech block for the removal of powder gases is an ejector. The inner trunk surface of the gun is chrome plated. Its survivability is 500 shots. For shooting from the gun, a sub-caliber armor-piercing projectile with a tungsten alloy core (DM23) and a fragmentation-cumulative munition (DM12) are used.

The designers provided a very reliable running and propulsion part of the Leopard combat vehicle. The tank is equipped with a V-shaped four-stroke diesel engine for 12 cylinders with a capacity of 1500 horsepower. This engine is a pre-chamber type unit with liquid cooling, as well as two coolers for air. They are included in the cooling system. Air mixture comes through the air intakes, which are on the roof.

The fire control system of the combat vehicle is represented by the following components: the periscope sight, the gun synchronization system, the main laser and telescopic auxiliary sights, the analog ballistic computer, the control system of the JMA functions and the weapon stabilizer.

"Leopard 2" is a reliable and powerful machine that is capable of performing modern combat missions.