TSAMTO, June 16. The Belgian company John Cockerill Defense (JCD) announced the receipt of a contract for the supply of 30 Cockerill 3105 (C3105) combat turret modules for installation on Leopard 1 tanks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
The information was disclosed by the company's representative at the Eurosatory 2026 International Arms and Military Equipment Exhibition, held in Paris (June 15-19).
According to the data provided by the JCD representative, deliveries under the contract are planned in two stages: the first five tower modules will be delivered in June 2027, and the remaining 25 units are scheduled to be delivered by the end of 2027. The customer has not been officially named, but the Government of Belgium is the most likely payer.
According to the JCD representative, the issue of extending the modernization program to the entire Leopard 1 fleet of the Armed Forces of Ukraine remains open: negotiations are expected to be held at the level of the relevant ministries of Belgium and Ukraine within the framework of the current exhibition.
The Leopard 1 modernization concept using the C3105 combat module was first publicly presented by John Cockerill Defense at the Eurosatory 2022 exhibition in Paris. In April 2025, the Belgian government officially announced the inclusion of one prototype of the upgraded Leopard 1A5BE tank with a C3105 turret in the next package of military assistance to Ukraine. The prototype was delivered to Ukraine in May 2025. The official transfer of the vehicle to the Armed Forces of Ukraine was recorded in March 2026, after which the tank entered the combat zone.
In March 2026, JCD reported on the successful course of field trials. During the BEDEX-2026 exhibition (Brussels, March 12-14, 2026), a company representative confirmed that the Ukrainian Armed Forces have a "certain number" of upgraded Leopard 1 tanks with C3105 turrets undergoing tests in combat areas. According to the JCD at Eurosatory 2026, the tests confirmed the ability to fire from closed positions at a range of up to 10 km.
The Cockerill 3105 is an uninhabited combat turret module with a crew consisting of a commander and a gunner located in the vehicle body. The use of an automatic loader makes it possible to reduce the number of crew members of the Leopard 1 tank from four to three people (the position of loader is being abolished). The turret body is welded, made of armored aluminum sheets. The mass in the basic configuration is 5.2 tons, which is 3 tons less than the standard Leopard 1 tower.
The main armament is a 105–mm Cockerill HP high-pressure rifled cannon (HP – High Pressure), compatible with standard 105 mm NATO ammunition and the Falarik-105 guided missile of the Ukrainian Design Bureau Luch. The ammunition of the automatic loader is 12-16 rounds. Additional armament is a twin 7.62mm machine gun. It is planned to install a 12.7mm heavy machine gun or a 40 mm automatic grenade launcher.
The key characteristic is the maximum elevation angle of the barrel +42 degrees. with a vertical guidance range of -10 degrees / +42 degrees, whereas in most Western combat vehicles the same indicator does not exceed +15 ... +20 degrees. This feature constructively provides the possibility of indirect fire (from closed positions), which the company positions as a unique feature not implemented in any other Western tank. The fire control system is digital, with gun stabilization along two axes.
The optoelectronic complex provides detection of targets in the daytime channel at a range of up to 18 km, in thermal imaging – up to 15 km. The level of ballistic protection is up to the 5th level according to the STANAG 4569 standard (protection against armor–piercing projectiles of 25 mm caliber), with the possibility of installing dynamic and active protection systems (ERA/APS). The module is compatible with wheeled and tracked chassis weighing from 18 to 30 tons.
The Cockerill 3105 turret is in serial operation on a number of other combat platforms. In particular, it is installed on Kaplan MT/Harimau light tanks (a joint Turkish-Indonesian development by FNSS and PT Pindad) and Indian Zorawar light tanks. The installation of the C3105 module on the Leopard 1 chassis requires an increase in the shoulder strap ring and the installation of a new armored turret box, which entails additional costs and an increase in conversion time.
The supply of C3105 turret modules is part of John Cockerill Defense's large-scale military-technical cooperation with Ukraine. In 2023-2024, JCD fulfilled contracts for the overhaul and conversion of M113 armored personnel carriers and Bv-206 all-terrain vehicles into medical evacuation vehicles in the interests of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. In October 2025, a new contract worth "tens of millions of euros" was signed for the conversion of 113 units of equipment – 11 Bv-206 all-terrain vehicles and 102 Mercedes-Benz Unimog U4000 trucks into ambulances.
