The Brazilian Leopards will remain in service until at least the middle of the next decade. Yesterday, June 16, portal janes.com He reported that the Brazilian Defense Ministry announced a tender for the modernization of 116 Leopard 1A5BR tanks.
The modernization of tanks is part of the army's large-scale program to ensure full combat capability for the period from 2020 to 2039. It is planned that in the course of the work, "the problem of obsolescence of the tank and the extension of its service life for more than 15 years" will be solved.
Leopard 1A5BR tanks of the Brazilian Army
Image source: janes.com
On the Brazilian "Leopards" it is planned to update the electric drive of the turret, the commander's sight, the thermal imager for the driver, the automatic fire extinguishing system in the engine compartment and the climate control unit in the cabin. In parallel, the combat vehicles should receive the L3Harris Falcon III RF-7800V-V51x and Thales SOTAS communication systems, the Sentro de Devolvolvimento de Sistemas GCB fire control systems, and the AEL Sistemas CTM tactical computers. They will not ignore the strengthening of armor protection, as well as the purchase of new accessories (for example, dumps).
In 2008, Brazil purchased supported Leopard 1A5 tanks and vehicles based on it from Belgium. The last batch of armored vehicles was delivered to Brazil in 2012. The modernization process may begin as early as 2022.
The Leopard 1, developed by Porsche in the early 60s, was the main battle tank of the German army until 1980. The length of the tank (with the gun forward) is 9.5 m, width-3.25 m, height-2.4 m. The vehicle weighs almost 40 tons and is armed with a 105-mm rifled gun, as well as two 7.62 mm machine guns. The 830 hp engine is capable of accelerating the tank to 62 km / h, and its power reserve is 600 km.