Defeated "Leopard": why the Turkish tank could not withstand the attack of the Kurds. In Syria, under the blows of Russian fogots, German leopard tanks are burning. Destroyed German tanks in Syria

Last week, one of the most famous German weekly publications, Stern, published an article by the famous German journalist and military observer Gernot Kramper, dedicated to the combat debut of the Leopard-2 tanks. In his article, the results of the first serious battle of the best European tank Krumper calls it nothing less than a disaster....

The reason for such harsh criticism was the destruction of two Leopard-2A4 tanks of the Turkish army on the outskirts of the Syrian city of Al-Bab. Krumper notes that ISIS fighters withdrew three tanks in just two days. At the same time, two tanks, according to the observer, were completely destroyed along with their crews, while the third could not be restored, but the crew escaped with severe wounds and burns.

Leopard captured by terrorists in Syria

According to the journalist, Leopard-2 had already entered the combat zone before. Thus, the Canadian troops included more than modern model The German vehicle visited Afghanistan, but things did not go beyond a few minor skirmishes with the Taliban. It is worth noting that even then German tanks received an unsatisfactory assessment from military experts. The reason was a mine accident in which one of the crew members was injured. The military noted that the explosions Israeli tank"Merkava", a traditional competitor of the "Leopard", and with more powerful mines and land mines, caused much less harm to the equipment and crew.

Under Al-Bab, everything happened much more tragically. Krumper believes that the destruction of the Leopard model 2A4 anti-tank missile system TOW2 is quite predictable, since this model does not have any effective means protection from such weapons. However, this was only the first time a tank was attacked, and it was then that the crew managed to survive. In two other cases, the pride of German tank building was attacked by Soviet Fagot ATGMs....

The same Turkish Leopards in Syria










A German journalist notes with horror that the 2A4 modification began to be produced in the mid-80s of the last century, but it is destroyed by missiles at least 15 years older. That is, even then Germany, a country with the best military-industrial complex in Europe, was inferior to older Soviet weapons. “Now Leopards of this modification, purchased by many countries of the world, including European ones, are being destroyed by primitive missiles guided by wire!” Kramper laments. At the end of the article, the military observer clarifies that this modification is considered obsolete in the German army and is not used, which means that in the event of a possible conflict with Russia, one can hope that German tanks will not be helpless lambs....

At the same time, in neighboring Syria Russian tank The T-90 of the government army easily withstood a hit from an anti-tank rifle....

As main reason defeat of tanks of NATO countries Krumper calls the low training of tank crews from the Middle Eastern countries. He directly states that the level of training of Turkish tank crews is much lower than that of armor-piercing fighters. However, this does not change the fact that in similar situations Russian technology allows crews to make mistakes without critical risk to life.Anchor

P.S. In Syria, in a couple of days, more than a dozen skins have already been removed from these Leopards.

And in what climate and on what soil should this 75-ton Wunderwaffe be used? According to Russian black soil and Belarusian forests? On the autobahn only. What is its cost and how many hours does it take to make it? Under it we need miracle railway platforms for transfer, miracle bridges, miracle repairs, miracle mud and many more miracles unknown to us. Either a Douro or Bertha cannon is transported on several echelons, or a 170-ton Mouse is sculpted for the factory yard. The Eastern tourist expedition in 1941 did not teach the Germans anything.

We recently talked about what armored troops armed with American tanks Abrams. ISIS* militants are destroying them en masse with the help of both American and Russian anti-tank missile systems. Now it has become known that the German Leopard-2 tank did not pass strength tests in real combat conditions. According to various sources, from five to ten Leopards have already been burned in battles.

This tank is considered the pride of Germany. Since 1977, more than 3 thousand main battle tanks of various modifications have been produced. In Syria, the Turkish army is fighting with Leopard-2A4 tanks, which are approximately in the middle of the scale of combat capabilities of various modifications. In addition to the armies of Germany and Turkey, armored divisions of 20 more countries are armed with this tank. The largest purchases at one time were made by Austria, Türkiye, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Spain, and Greece.

From a theoretical point of view, the German tank should have been more protected against missile attacks than the American one. Since its modification 2A4, which appeared in the late 80s, was maximally protected from any type of attack. Armor protection was sharply increased, which is why the tank's weight increased from 50 to 55 tons. Additional measures have been introduced to increase crew survivability. Also increased firepower cars.

Yes, Leopard-2 is a good tank. It couldn’t be otherwise, because Germany has had its own tank building school for several decades. It is represented by the mechanical engineering company Krauss-Maffei Wegmann GmbH & Co KG, headquartered in Munich. The company began with the design and production of the Leopard 1 tank, which was the main battle tank of the Bundeswehr from 1965 to 1980.

After the Leopard 1's modernization options had been exhausted, Krauss-Maffei created a new main battle tank. Which became significantly more expensive, and therefore the production volume of Leopard-2 was reduced to 3000 versus 6000 for Leopard-1.

Of course combat capabilities of the new machine have increased significantly. Thus, instead of a 105 mm rifled gun, the Rheinmetall smoothbore gun of 120 mm caliber began to be used. Armor-piercing finned sabot projectiles of increased power have appeared in the line of ammunition.

However, the gun, which has a good range and shooting accuracy, does not have an automatic loader. And this is almost an atavism in modern times, because the absence of a machine gun almost directly affects the combat capabilities of the tank:

- firstly, the rate of fire of the gun decreases, since the loader has to make many similar repetitive movements;

- secondly, the accumulating fatigue of the loader can lead to errors during shooting or when performing any actions on which the success of the tank on the battlefield depends;

- thirdly, in the absence of a gun automatic loader, part of the ammunition is located in close proximity to the loader. And this is fraught with tragic consequences in the event of detonation or fire.

Let's try to take a closer look at the tank's security. It would seem that German designers, armed with significant experience in creating previous modifications of the tank and testing it both in testing grounds and in combat conditions, should have made a low-vulnerability vehicle. In addition, they did not particularly take into account the costs of development and mass production. As a result, Leopard 2 is sold both on the domestic German market and on the foreign market for $6.5 million. The main battle tanks of the top five - British, Israeli, American, French - have approximately the same cost characteristics...

As for the Russian one, it costs only 2.5 million. And at the same time it leaves tanks behind in a number of characteristics foreign production. This is one of the reasons that Russian manufacturers are the undisputed leaders in the global tank market.

It would seem that the armor protection of the Leopard-2A4 is designed at the highest engineering and technical level. The share of armor accounts for 52% of total mass tank, which is 29 tons. In addition, modern multi-layer armor is used, which can significantly weaken the effect of enemy ammunition.

To reduce the angle of impact of the projectile with the armor, the upper frontal plate of the hull has a large angle of inclination. The thickness of the frontal armor of the turret was increased to 700 mm. Since previous modifications had weak mine protection, the thickness of the tank’s bottom armor was increased to 30-70 mm. We made sure that an enemy shell that penetrated the armor caused minimal damage to the crew and tank. possible harm. To do this, the internal surfaces of the tank's fighting compartment were covered with synthetic mats made of high-strength armid fiber. When interacting with mats, fragments that have pierced the armor reduce their energy and the conical angle of expansion.

In theory, such a tank should have high survivability. But this is only true regarding the time of its creation, i.e. 80s. Since then it has changed anti-tank weapon, and tactics tank battles. The Americans have already been burned by this, when in Iraq in the mid-2000s the Abrams large quantities destroyed by Iraqi guerrillas. Moreover, they did not use sub-caliber shells with a depleted uranium core, but primitive homemade mines and vintage RPG-7 grenade launchers. In just over a year, 80 Abrams were destroyed. American designers, having analyzed the causes of losses, modernized the tank, adapting it to urban battles as much as possible. One of the most important design decisions was the strengthening of dynamic armor protection in various directions.

Until recently, the designers of Leopard-2 were not bitten by the roasted rooster. These tanks took part in military operations in Afghanistan at the beginning of the century. There were complaints about their quality, but the complaints were of a “peaceful nature”, since the “Leopards” practically did not participate in battles at that time. And their vulnerability to shelling is not the most modern ammunition could not be determined. And now, when the tank was finally tested in in real life- scandal. ISIS insists that they destroyed 10 Leopards belonging to Turkey.

According to German data, losses amounted to 5 tanks. The Turkish crews simply abandoned the 2 destroyed tanks, and they went to ISIS militants as trophies. One tank was seriously damaged by a missile from the American TOW-2 anti-tank system, but the crew escaped. 2 tanks were destroyed by a Soviet anti-tank missile "Fagot", the crews were killed.

What can you say offhand? Still, the armor protection of the Leopard-2A4 does not quite meet the requirements of our time. The tank does not have dynamic armor protection, which consists of cells attached to the armor that act as explosive packages. When a projectile comes into contact with a cell, it is detonated, which leads to the neutralization of enemy ammunition. 700 mm of frontal armor is not enough in modern times. Now many tanks have increased their frontal armor to up to a meter.

As before, the Leopard has poor underbody armor, and therefore the tank may become a victim of home-made mines.

The tank, hit by an American TOW-2 anti-tank missile, was absolutely powerless against it. Because a missile with a tandem cumulative warhead is capable of penetrating 800 mm of armor. The Leopard, as we remember, has a frontal armor thickness of 700 mm.

The destruction of two Leopard-2s by a wire-controlled Soviet anti-tank missile Fagot from the 70s is more serious blow by the tank's reputation. The fact is that the Fagot’s warhead is smaller (2.5 kg versus 6 kg for the TOW-2), and its armor penetration is 600 mm.

The situation was somewhat different at the time when the same American missile TOW-2 was hit by a Syrian army T-90A tank. Information about the armor of this tank is still classified. But it is known that it widely uses composite armor, including layers with materials that have unique properties. It is also known that the T-90A has dynamic armor protection, which significantly increases the survivability of the tank. In addition, there is a complex active protection“Shtora”, which counters fire from high-precision weapons.

At normal conditions operation of a Russian tank, nothing happens to it in Syria. There are known cases where up to 4 hits from armor-piercing ammunition had virtually no effect on the performance of the tank. But in one case, the tank was lost - that is, captured by militants. And this was predetermined by the fact that the tank was used tactically in an absolutely incompetent manner. No infantry support. The tank was used alone, and not as part of a platoon. No one recorded the moment the ATGM fired. The tank stood still and did not maneuver. The Shtora complex was turned off. The hatches on the tower are open. It was through the hatch that she entered the tank. shock wave, formed when a 6-kilogram warhead of an anti-tank missile exploded. In connection with this, the shell-shocked gunner-operator in under stress jumped out of the tank. As a result, the tank passed into the hands of terrorists.

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*Movement " Islamic State» decision Supreme Court RF dated December 29, 2014 was recognized terrorist organization, its activities in Russia are prohibited.

Last week, one of the most famous German weekly publications, Stern, published an article by the famous German journalist and military observer Gernot Kramper, dedicated to the combat debut of the Leopard-2 tanks. In his article, Kramper calls the results of the first serious battle of the best European tank nothing less than a disaster...

The reason for such harsh criticism was the destruction of two Leopard-2A4 tanks of the Turkish army on the outskirts of the Syrian city of Al-Bab. Krumper notes that three tanks were removed by ISIS terrorists in just two days. At the same time, two tanks, according to the observer, were completely destroyed along with their crews, while the third could not be restored, but the crew escaped with severe wounds and burns.

According to the journalist, Leopard-2 had already entered the combat zone before. Thus, as part of the Canadian troops, a more modern model of the German vehicle visited Afghanistan, but things did not go beyond a few minor skirmishes with the Taliban. It is worth noting that even then German tanks received an unsatisfactory assessment from military experts. The reason was a mine accident in which one of the crew members was injured. The military noted that explosions of the Israeli Merkava tank, a traditional competitor of the Leopard, and more powerful mines and land mines caused much less harm to the equipment and crew.

Under Al-Bab, everything happened much more tragically. Krumper believes that the destruction of the Leopard model 2A4 by the TOW2 anti-tank missile system is quite predictable, since this model does not have any effective means of protection against such weapons. However, this was only the first time a tank was attacked, and it was then that the crew managed to survive. In two other cases, the pride of German tank building was fatally attacked by obsolete Soviet Fagot ATGMs...

The same Turkish Leopards in Syria

A German journalist notes with horror that the 2A4 modification began to be produced in the mid-80s of the last century, but it is destroyed by missiles at least 15 years older. That is, even then Germany, a country with the best military-industrial complex in Europe, was inferior to older Soviet weapons. “Now Leopards of this modification, purchased by many countries around the world, including European ones, are being destroyed by primitive wire-guided missiles!” Kramper laments. At the end of the article, the military observer clarifies that this modification is considered obsolete in the German army and is not used, which means that in the event of a possible conflict with Russia, one can hope that German tanks will not be helpless lambs...

At the same time, in neighboring Syria, the Russian T-90 tank of the government army easily withstood a hit from an PTRS...

Krumper names the poor training of tank crews from Middle Eastern countries as the main reason for the defeat of NATO tanks. He directly states that the level of training of Turkish tank crews is much lower than that of the militants’ armor-piercing fighters. However, this does not negate the fact that in similar situations, Russian technology allows crews to make mistakes without critical risk to life.

P.S. In Syria, in a couple of days, more than a dozen skins have already been removed from these Leopards.

And in what climate and on what soil should this 75-ton Wunderwaffe be used? On Russian black soil and Belarusian forests? On the autobahn only. What is its cost and how many hours does it take to make it? Under it we need miracle railway platforms for transfer, miracle bridges, miracle repairs, miracle mud and many more miracles unknown to us. Either a Douro or Bertha cannon is transported on several echelons, or a 170-ton Mouse is sculpted for the factory yard. The Eastern tourist expedition in 1941 did not teach the Germans anything.

In Germany, the main battle tank "Leopard - 2" is known as one of the best in the world, which competes for this title with such proven world projects as the American "M1 Abrams" and the British "Challenger 2". However, this reputation as a nearly invincible tank has met with setbacks on the Syrian battlefield, and has left Berlin in a decidedly awkward position in the nationwide dispute with fellow NATO member Turkey.
The fact is that Ankara offered to release a German political prisoner in exchange for Germany modernizing the Leopard 2A4 tank more old model, serving in the Turkish army, who proved so amazingly vulnerable in battle. However, on January 24, public outrage over reports that Turkey was using its Leopard 2s to kill Kurdish fighters in the Syrian enclaves of Afrin and Manbij forced Berlin to freeze the tank deal based on the hostage's release.

Destruction of a Turkish tank in Afrin.

The Leopard 2 is often compared to its closest contemporary, the M1 Abrams; in truth, the two designs share similar characteristics, including a weight of over sixty tons of advanced combined armor, engines with a capacity of 1,500 horsepower, allowing a speed of forty miles per hour and, for some models, the same forty-four caliber 120-mm main gun manufactured by the German concern Rheinmetall. Both types can easily destroy most tanks built by Russia at medium and long ranges, at which they are unlikely to be reached by return Russian fire from standard 125 mm guns. In addition, they have the best sights with excellent thermal imaging and magnification characteristics that will most likely help them quickly detect and engage the enemy. Historically, this advantage has proven to be a more decisive factor in winning a tank war than even total firepower.
Tests conducted in Greece showed that "leopards" and "Abrams" in motion hit a 2.3-meter target, respectively, nineteen and twenty times out of twenty, while soviet tank The T-80 hit its target only eleven times.

The slight differences between the designs of the two Western tanks show different national philosophies. The Abrams has a noisy 1,500-horsepower turbo that starts faster, while the Leopard 2's diesel engine gives you more range before the next fill-up.
The Abrams achieved some of its unusual offensive and defensive capabilities through the use of depleted uranium ammunition and armor technologies that were politically unacceptable to the Germans. Therefore, later Leopard 2A6 models are now equipped with faster fifty-five caliber guns in order to compensate for the difference in penetration, while the Leopard 2A5 is equipped with an additional wedge of spaced armor on the turret to better absorb enemy fire.

In addition, the Germans, exporting weapons, may have doubts about the upcoming deal. Berlin places wider restrictions on such sales, at least compared to France, the US or Russia. For example, Berlin rejected advantageous offer Saudi Arabia about the sale of four hundred to eight hundred Leopard-2 tanks due to documents on human rights violations in the Middle East and in particular because of its bloody war in Yemen. But the Leopard-2 tank is in service in eighteen countries, including many NATO members. In response to this, the Saudis simply ordered about four hundred additional American Abrams. This situation brings us back to the issue of relations with Turkey, a NATO member country with which Berlin has important historical and economic ties, but which also passed through military coups and has waged a controversial campaign against Kurdish separatists for decades.

In the early 2000s, with a more favorable political climate, Berlin sold 354 of its old Leopard 2A4 tanks to Ankara. They represented a major upgrade of this combat vehicle compared to the less protected M60 Patton tanks that make up the bulk of Turkey's armored forces.
Nevertheless, for a long time it was rumored that Berlin agreed to such a sale on the condition that German tanks would not be used in Turkey's counterinsurgency against the Kurds. The question of whether such a fact actually took place or not is still hotly disputed. What is certain, however, is that Leopard 2 was kept away from the Kurdish conflict and was instead stationed in northern Turkey, opposite Russia. However, in the fall of 2016, Turkish Leopard 2s from the Second Armored Brigade were finally deployed to the Syrian border in order to support Operation Euphrates Shield, Turkey's intervention in the war against ISIS.

It must be said that before the arrival of the Leopard, about a dozen Turkish M-60 tanks had already been destroyed in this area by both ISIS fighters and Kurdish missiles. Turkish military commentators have expressed hope that the more modern Leopard will perform much better.
Model 2A4 was the last of the Leopard-2 tanks of the era cold war. They were designed to fight against relatively dense military units in a fast-paced defensive war against Soviet tank columns, rather than to survive improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and missiles fired from ambush by insurgents in long counter-guerrilla campaigns, where every tank lost became a political problem. The 2A4 tanks retain the older, angular turrets, which provide less protection against modern anti-tank missiles. This is especially true in the more vulnerable armored sectors at the rear and sides, an even greater problem in counterinsurgency warfare where an attack can come from any angle.

This state of affairs was dramatically illustrated in December 2016, when evidence emerged that large number Leopard 2 tanks were destroyed in fierce fighting for the ISIS-held town of Al-Bab - fighting that Turkish military leaders called a "trauma", according to the German magazine Der Spiegel. A document published online indicates that ISIS appears to have destroyed ten of its previously thought to be invincible Leopard 2 tanks; five by anti-tank missiles, two by mines or IEDs, one by rocket or mortar fire, and the remaining for unknown reasons.

Photos posted on this source confirm the destruction of at least eight tanks. One photograph shows that Leopard 2 was apparently destroyed by an armored kamikaze truck filled with explosives. Another tank had a collapsed turret. The remains of three Leopards can be seen in the area of ​​the same hospital near Al Bab, along with other damaged Turkish armored vehicles. It seems that the vehicles were mainly hit in the very underbelly - the least protected part of the vehicle, as well as in the side armor with the help of IEDs and anti-tank missiles of the AT-7 Metis and AT-5 Konkurs complexes.

There is no doubt that the fighting style adopted by the Turkish army when using German tanks probably contributed to these losses. Rather than being used as a combined strike force alongside mutually supporting infantry, they were deployed to the rear and turned into long-range fire weapons while Turkish-allied Syrian militias, reinforced by Turkish special forces, fought assault battles. Thus, left isolated in open firing positions without adequate nearby infantry with which to form a well-defended perimeter, the Turkish Leopards found themselves vulnerable to ambush. The same tactics have led to the loss of numerous Saudi tanks in Yemen, as you can see in this video.

Destruction of Abrams by Houthis in Yemen,

In contrast, the more modern Leopard 2 tanks in Afghanistan saw quite a few battles with Taliban militants. These were the Canadian 2A6M (with enhanced mine protection and even floating “safety seats”) and the Danish 2A5. Although some were damaged by mines, all were returned to service, although one crew member of the Danish Leopard 2 was fatally wounded by an IED in 2008. However, combat commanders praise these tanks for their mobility and accurate and timely fire support during major combat operations in southern Afghanistan.
In 2017, Germany began rebuilding its tank fleet, creating an even more advanced tank model, the Leopard 2A7V, that would likely survive a counterinsurgency environment. Now Ankara is pressing Berlin to modernize the protection on its Leopard-2 tanks, especially since the introduction into service of the domestically produced Altai tank has been repeatedly delayed.

The Turkish military not only needs additional armor protection against IEDs, but also active system protection (ASZ), which can detect attacking missiles and their launch site, as well as jam them or even shoot them down. Recently american army authorized the installation of the Israeli Trophy ASZ, which has proven its effectiveness in combat in tank brigade equipped with M1 Abrams. Meanwhile, Leopard-2 manufacturer Rheinmetall has unveiled its own anti-aircraft and anti-tank missile defense system, which supposedly poses less risk of harming friendly troops with its missile defense devices.

However, German-Turkish relations deteriorated sharply, especially after Erdogan initiated a long persecution of thousands of alleged plotters after unsuccessful attempt military coup in August 2016. In February 2017, German-Turkish citizen Deniz Yücel, a correspondent for the magazine Die Welt, was arrested by Turkish authorities, allegedly for being a pro-Kurdish spy. His detention caused outrage in Germany. Ankara pointedly announced that if the modernization of Leopard-2 continues, Yucel will be released back to Germany. Although Berlin publicly insisted it would never agree to such a swap, Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel quietly began to move toward authorizing the tank modernization deal in an attempt to improve relations between the countries amid what appeared to be a suspicious blackmail scheme. Gabriel simply presented the deal as a measure to protect the lives of Turkish soldiers from ISIS.

However, in mid-January 2018, Turkey launched an offensive against the Kurdish enclaves in Afrin and Manbij in northwestern Syria. The attack was largely driven by Turkish fears that the Pentagon's announcement of recruiting Kurds to create a "border security force" to continue the fight against ISIS would result in effective Kurdish control of the Syrian border leading to the de facto creation of a Kurdish state that would extend into Turkey.

However, soon in social networks photographs have appeared showing Leopard 2 tanks being used to destroy Kurdish positions in Afrin, where several dozen casualties were recorded civilian population. In addition, on January 21, the Kurdish group YPG published a video on YouTube showing a Turkish Leopard 2 hit by Konkurs anti-tank missiles. However, it is impossible to determine whether the tank was hit; the missile may have struck the front armor of the Leopard 2, which is estimated to have a thickness of 590-690 millimeters of rolled homogeneous armor (RHA) on the 2A4 tank, while the two types of Konkurs missiles could penetrate six or eight hundred millimeters RSL.

In any case, parliamentarians from both the German left and Merkel's right-wing Christian Democratic Union reacted with outrage to such Turkish actions, with one MP calling the Turkish offensive a violation international law. On January 25, the Merkel administration was forced to announce that the modernization of Leopard-2 tanks will at least at the moment removed from the agenda. Ankara views the deal as merely on hold, and ritual rhetoric from Berlin suggests it may return to the deal at a more politically opportune time.

Sebastien Roble n holds a master's degree in conflict resolution from Georgetown University and served as a university Peace Corps instructor in China. He also worked in education, editing, and refugee resettlement in France and the United States. He currently writes about security and military history, For information resource War Is Boring

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"cats" German made suffered losses in Syria again - Kurds
knocked out a Leopard tank from the Soviet Fagot ATGM. Is the quality of German weapons being over-praised, or is this result due to excessive self-confidence and inexperienced users? Let's try to understand the situation.

We spoke

For most of 2016, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan tried to openly blackmail the European Union, promising to open the border to the flow of refugees. Such statements could not but arouse caution, and after the notorious Turkish coup in July 2016, the situation became so tense that a number of EU countries interrupted or suspended military-technical cooperation with Turkey, including Germany.

It was definitely not worth quarreling with the EU (and especially with Germany, a long-time military-technical partner). Erdogan faced the consequences.

Firstly, it is known that Turkey has unsuccessfully tried to negotiate with the Germans and conclude a contract for the modernization of existing Leopard 2 tanks since at least March 2017. For now, the Turkish side can only admire proposals to improve reservations from the German concerns KMW and Rheinmetall in advertising brochures.

Turkish "Leopards" on the border with Syria

Secondly, an ambitious project - the promising Turkish Altay tank - was under threat. It suddenly became clear that there was much more German in it than “national”, so it would not be possible to rearm the army with new generation vehicles either “right now” or in the foreseeable future.

As a result, Türkiye was faced with the need to fight with what it had. While the EU “weapons” sanctions are in effect, a new car cannot be completed, and the existing ones cannot be improved to an acceptable condition.

"Seals" of retirement age

In 2005, Türkiye purchased 298 used Leopard 2A4s, which were later named Leopard 2A4TR. The differences from the “original” A-fours were minimal and did not concern the armor.

It must be said that Leopard 2A4 vehicles were produced from 1985 to 1992 in three batches, with each subsequent batch receiving more powerful armor. In addition, in the late 1980s - early 1990s, almost all Leopard 2 first series (A0 - A3), built from 1979 to 1985, were rebuilt into this version. Judging by open data, the Turkish Leopard fleet consists of vehicles built in the early 1980s, which were supposed to hold back the Soviet T-64, T-72 and T-80 in battles in Western Europe. Turkish tanks never had dynamic protection, much less active protection systems, which clearly did not contribute to their survivability.

The human factor of the Turkish side

Absence modern technology- is far from the main problem of the Turkish army. Most likely, the “local” features of the conduct of hostilities were influenced by the “purges” of the army after the unsuccessful coup in July 2016.

In videos regularly appearing on the Internet, it is clearly visible that the Turkish military is using tanks in a completely different way than prescribed.

The Kurds do not have heavy equipment, so the Turkish tanks serve as mobile fortified points or analogues assault guns...it's true, it's quite peculiar.

There is no infantry support, the presence of reconnaissance is also doubtful, vehicles blithely roll around one or two at a time or stand, exposing vulnerabilities ATGM gunners. Firing positions They are not always equipped for tanks, and if they are equipped, it is hastily and can hardly protect against anything.

The Leopards' ammunition racks are most likely filled with cumulative (HEAT) and high-explosive (HE) shells. This is probably why such a powerful explosion is visible in the video.

Another significant factor that reduces the survivability of the second Leopard in these conditions is the peculiarity of the location of the ammunition inside the tank - 22 of the 42 projectiles placed are in a rack in the front of the hull, to the left of the driver. From the forehead they are covered quite well, but if they hit the side, and even more so the roof of the hull - which is quite likely in the mountains - this scheme has problems.

...and their opponents

Opponents, however, are not far behind in the oddities. Judging by the data published by the Turkish side, with the help of anti-tank systems the Kurds more often attack bulldozers and fortifications than tanks or armored vehicles. This, of course, is uplifting and suitable for propaganda, but it is unlikely to significantly deter the Turks.

In addition, unsuccessful attacks, at a minimum, are not published, and in the worst case scenario, there is little left from the operators.

Since Turkey has more resources, at this rate the Kurds will run out of either anti-tank systems or crews.

Is Leopard bad?

Leopard 2 tanks are in service with 18 countries, including Germany. They are planned to be supplied to four more countries. Of course, one can argue on the topic “Leopards have shit themselves,” but, obviously, in similar conditions no tank would shine. There is reason to believe that the Turkish military would have destroyed the more modern modification of the Leopard, the T-90, or even the T-14 Armata.

After all, there are known cases when Middle Eastern tank crews abandoned perfectly serviceable equipment that went to the militants.

It is worth recalling the case of the T-90, which in combat conditions moved with open hatches and the Shtora optical-electronic suppression system turned off. The result was a TOW-2A ATGM hit, the Syrian crew was saved by dynamic protection.

Another thing is clear: whoever wins the Kurdish-Turkish conflict, the German concerns KMW and Rheinmetall will ultimately win. Both current and future Leopard users will be clearly shown what happens to those who do not invest money in improving their tank fleet on time.

Modernization, it must be said, is not cheap. In January 2017, the Turkish Ministry of Defense was willing to spend $500 million to “upgrade” 200 tanks (some Leopard 2A4, some M60), which gives a rough figure of $2.5 million per combat vehicle.

Agree - a very good profit from someone else's stupidity.