Started using the Leo and like it a lot! Definitely more modern in terms of gunnery especially leading. Looks mean too

One question though if I order a 'reload all' the turret spins round to the 5 o'clock position and all optics go off in the gunners position, why is this?

There are better people on here that can answer that more completely, but I believe the Leo has a blast storage compartment in the back similar to the M1, but it can only accessed it with the rear turret orientation, unlike the M1. Seems a bit unsettling to point your pointy stick end away from the enemy during an engagement, must be a tactical choice.
-Beh

The reload command orders the loader to reload the ready rounds (the ones stored in the bustle of the turret) the turret has to be traversed to allow acces to the stored ammo in the racks in the hull. on the M-1A1 and beyond all ammo is stored in the bustle, so to reload the ready rack you don't need to realign the turret.

Hope that was clearing that up, otherwise I know Ssnake can definetely clarify better!

Staffan

The leo 2 stores its semi ready ammo in the front of the hull next to the driver. this requires the tyrret to turn to the 5 oclock position to align with the ammo stored in the hull.

I think the optics are turned off to prevent scanning for targets while transferring ammo.

Right that explains it but it's still damn scary lol

I have not much to add. The reload phase is a moment of vulnerability, no doubt. The good news is, it happens much faster than in the M1 where both commander and loader will be fully occupied to transfer ammo from the semi-ready to the ready rack (...or in the T-72, when attempting to refill the carousel loader).

Since it can be done quickly, it should be done on every opportunity, every small pause in battle, ideally in a turret-down defilade. The platoon leader would typically order one or two tanks into defilade to reload while the rest of the platoon will provide overwatch and cover. Once that the first two tanks are done, the roles will be reversed.

This means that ammunition management plays a different role than with other tanks where the reload takes much more time. There it makes sense to pull an entire platoon from the front line (replace it with the company reserve), have it refill his ready ammo, and to do that for one platoon after another. No matter what, ammunition management is an important aspect that requires leader attention and recognizing the proper moment of opportunity.

Ammo reloading is screwed-up in Leo-2 AI tanks. I observed one Leo-2 AI tank reloading ammo while being immobilized and under enemy fire. Very quickly it was hit in turret's rear and destroyed immediately.

However I like very much...Leo-1A5 tank! Its 3D interiors look great and FCS is more advanced than this one found in Leo-2A4. Especially commander's targeting devices are very advanced - he can fire on the move inducing lead what Leo-2 commander cannot do. Fighting Soviet tanks in it is challenging because you have FCS advantage but one enemy hit and goodbye.

But I have questions about Leo-1A5 ammo loadout. This tank was introduced in 1987 but it is in service even now in several countries. So what was its default ammo loadout:

- just after introduction into German service
- today in Greece and Turkey

I am especially curious about HESH versus HEAT rounds. What type of those two was/is preferred in Leo-1A5? Maybe now HE rounds are also used quite often? Also canister rounds were developed recently. So please tell be a bit about all this because I want to make historical and realistic scenarios.

I'm curious too. I like the Leo 1, with it;s glass jaw it is a challenge to even take on recoilless rifle technicals. Anywhere I can check beyond wikipedia for more info about it?

The best printed reference is the "Leopard Trilogy" by Michael Shackleton.
Then there's the "Leopard 1 und Leopard 2" by Walter Spielberger - less abundantly illustrated and less exhaustive about all the variants, but digging deeper into the development phase and the various prototypes that were built before serial production started.


Referring the "glass jaw" argument - at the time of development, no armor was known to protect against shaped charge warheads of the then common calibers. Therefore the basic decision was made to protect against the then current medium calibers and otherwise trim down the weight for good mobility and to give it the best possible firepower. To this extent the Leopard represents the technology of the early 60s in a somewhat radical though still conventional concept. A decade later entirely different armor concepts emerged in British laboratories called "Chobham", "Burlington", or "Dorchester" which dominated well into the 1990s and still constitute the main element of passive armor arrays ... nowadays expanded by reactive armors (M1A2 TUSK, Leopard 2A5+) or active protection systems (Leo 2 EVO).

In fact successive versions and modernizations of Leo-1 up-armored it significantly. Basic Leo-1A1 version had armor protection typical for even 1st generation tanks (M48, T-55). Latest Leo-1A5 model approached T-64/72/80 turret armor protection at least against APFSDS rounds.