TNI: the Leopards destroyed in Syria were not suitable for the war with the rebels"Leopards" of the old 2A4 model proved ineffective in Syria, writes TNI.
This model was created to fight Soviet tanks. Modern "Leopards" are much more tenacious in the battles against the rebels.
Sebastien RoblinThe German Leopard 2 main battle tank is reputed to be one of the best in the world, competing for this title with proven designs like the American M1 Abrams and the British Challenger 2.
However, this almost invincible reputation was tarnished by failures on the battlefields in Syria. As a result, Berlin even got involved in an unprecedented in its awkwardness interstate dispute with Turkey, a NATO partner.
Ankara even offered to release a German political prisoner if Germany modernizes Turkish 2A4 Leopards of the old model for the Turkish army — they turned out to be indecently vulnerable in battle. However, public anger over Turkey's abandonment of its Leopards to destroy Kurdish militants in the Syrian enclaves of Afrin and Manbij forced Berlin to freeze the deal.
"Leopard 2" is often compared to the contemporary M1 "Abrams". In truth, their designs have similar characteristics: including a weight of more than 60 tons, advanced composite armor and engines with a capacity of 1,500 horsepower, allowing speeds of over 65 kilometers per hour. Some models even have the same 120mm .44 caliber cannon manufactured by Rheinmetall.
It costs nothing for both of them to destroy most of the Russian-built tanks at medium and long distances, at which they are hardly threatened by return fire from standard 125-millimeter guns. In addition, they have excellent sights with thermal imagers and powerful magnification, thanks to which they are more likely to detect and hit the enemy first — historically, this factor in armored warfare is valued even higher than firepower. At the Greek trials, the moving Leopards and Abrams hit the 2.3-meter target nineteen and twenty times out of twenty, respectively — against only eleven hits from the Soviet T-80.
The more modest differences between the two Western tanks are due to the national philosophy. The Abrams has a noisy and voracious 1,500 horsepower engine that starts faster, while the Leopard-2 diesel boasts a large power reserve without refueling. "Abrams" has achieved a number of impressive offensive and defensive characteristics due to ammunition and armor with depleted uranium — for the Germans, these technologies are politically unacceptable. Therefore, later models of the Leopard 2A6 are equipped with a faster-firing 55-caliber cannon to compensate for the difference in penetration ability, and the Leopard 2A5 received an additional wedge of shielded armor on the turret to better absorb enemy fire.
German principles also apply to arms exports: Berlin is stricter about the countries to which it is ready to supply weapons — at least compared to France, the United States or Russia. Despite the fact that the Leopard 2 is in service with eighteen countries, many of which are members of NATO, Berlin rejected Saudi Arabia's lucrative bid for the supply of four hundred to eight hundred tanks due to human rights violations and especially its bloody war in Yemen. Then the Saudis ordered additional "Abrams" to their fleet of about four hundred.
And then Turkey, a NATO member and a country with which Berlin has long-standing historical and economic ties, pops up in the conversation. At the same time, Turkey has been a military dictatorship more than once throughout its history and has been waging a controversial campaign against Kurdish separatists for several decades. In the early 2000s, in a more favorable political environment, Berlin sold Ankara 354 decommissioned Leopard 2A4 tanks. This was a serious step forward compared to the less protected M60 Patton, which at that time formed the backbone of the Turkish armored forces.
However, rumors have been circulating for a long time that Berlin agreed to the sale only on condition that German tanks would not be used in counterinsurgency operations against the Kurds. There are heated debates about whether such an agreement was actually reached or not, but the fact remains that the Leopards have been kept away from the Kurdish conflict for a long time. Instead, they were based in northern Turkey opposite Russia.
However, in the fall of 2016, Turkish Leopards from the Second Armored Brigade were deployed to the Syrian border in support of Operation Euphrates Shield, the Turkish intervention against ISIS (a terrorist organization banned in Russia — Approx. InoSMI). Before the arrival of the Leopards, about a dozen Turkish Pattons were destroyed by both ISIS militants and Kurdish missiles. Turkish military observers hoped that the more durable Leopards would perform better.
The 2A4 model was the last during the Cold War and was developed for a rapidly developing defensive war by relatively concentrated units against Soviet tank columns, and not to take on ambushed improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and missiles in long-term campaigns against the rebels, where every loss becomes a political moment. The 2A4 still has the old square turret configuration, which provides less protection from modern anti—tank missiles, and more vulnerable rear and side armor - again, this is a big problem in battles with rebels who can attack from any direction.
Shocking evidence appeared in December 2016, when it became known that numerous "Leopards" were destroyed in fierce battles for the ISIS-controlled Al—Bab - the Turkish command would later call this battle "painful". In a document published on the Internet, it was reported that the militants destroyed ten supposedly invincible "Leopards": five with anti—tank missiles, two with mines or IEDs, one during rocket or mortar fire, and the rest by other means.
Photos confirm the destruction of at least eight. One shows a Leopard shot down by a suicide bomber on an armored truck packed with explosives. Another one's tower was completely demolished. Three fragments of "Leopards" are visible around the hospital near Al-Bab, along with other Turkish armored vehicles. Apparently, they were hit by IEDs and anti-tank missiles AT-7 "Metis" and AT-5 "Competition" through the vulnerable armor of the bottom and sides.
Undoubtedly, the very tactics of the Turkish army contributed to the losses.Instead of using them as part of combined arms forces with infantry support, German tanks were deployed in the rear as a means of long-range fire support, and the attacks were led by Syrian militias allied to Ankara, reinforced by Turkish special forces. Abandoned in open firing positions without adequate infantry support and a decent defensive perimeter, the Turkish Leopards were attacked from ambush. An equally unsuccessful tactic led to the loss of a number of Saudi "Abrams" in Yemen.
On the contrary, more modern "Leopards" have seen a lot of fighting in Afghanistan against the Taliban insurgents (a terrorist organization banned in Russia – Approx. InoSMI) — these were mainly Canadian 2A6M (with enhanced mine protection and even floating "safety seats") and Danish 2A5. Although some of them were damaged by mines, they all returned to service, although one member of the Danish crew was fatally wounded in an IED attack in 2008. At the same time, field commanders praised the tanks for their mobility and accurate and timely fire support during major military operations in southern Afghanistan.
In 2017, Germany began to rebuild its tank fleet, creating a more powerful Leopard 2A7V model, even more tenacious against the rebels. And now Ankara is demanding that Berlin upgrade the armor of its Leopards, since its own Altay tank is constantly delayed.
In addition, the Turkish military also requires upgrading the active protection system, which can detect approaching missiles and fix the departure point, as well as block them and even shoot them down. The US Army recently approved the installation of Israeli Trophy complexes tested in combat on the M1 Abrams brigade. Meanwhile, the manufacturer of "Leopards" concern "Rheinmetall" has introduced its own active protection system ADATS, which will reduce the risk of defensive fire on its own.
However, German-Turkish relations deteriorated sharply after Erdogan launched a wave of repression against thousands of alleged conspirators in August 2016 after an unsuccessful military coup. In February 2017, the correspondent of Die Welt magazine Deniz Yudzhel, who has dual citizenship of Germany and Turkey, was arrested by the Turkish authorities as a Kurdish spy. In Germany, his detention was met with indignation.
Ankara pointedly made it clear that if Germany approves the modernization of the Leopards, then Yudzhel will return home. Although Berlin publicly assured that it would never agree to such a collusion, Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel slowly began to lean towards modernization in an attempt to improve relations. In order not to make it look like blackmail, Gabriel presented the deal as protecting Turkish soldiers from ISIS.
However, in mid-January 2018, Turkey launched an offensive against the Kurdish enclaves of Afrin and Manbij in northwestern Syria. The attack was dictated by Turkey's fears that Kurdish control of the Syrian border would accelerate the creation of a de facto state, which would later expand into Turkish territory. In addition, the Pentagon has admitted that it is recruiting Kurds to form a "border security service" to continue the fight against ISIS.
Soon, photos appeared on social networks showing "Leopards" breaking through Kurdish positions in Afrin. Several dozen civilian casualties were reported. In addition, on January 21, the Kurdish People's Self-defense units published a video on Youtube with a Leopard allegedly hit by anti-tank missiles "Competition". It is impossible to say whether the tank has completely failed: the missile could hit the frontal armor, which is estimated as the equivalent of 590-690 mm rolled homogeneous armor. The Konkurs missiles are of two types and can penetrate from 600 to 800 millimeters of armor.
Be that as it may, deputies from Germany's left-wing parties and from Merkel's right-wing Christian Democratic Union reacted with indignation, and one deputy even called the offensive a violation of international law. On January 25, the Merkel administration announced that the modernization of the Leopards is not being discussed at the moment. However, Ankara considers the deal postponed, and Berlin's evasive rhetoric hints that it may resume at a politically more appropriate time.
Sebastien Roblin holds a Master's degree in conflict studies from Georgetown University and is a former Peace Corps officer in China. He worked in the field of education, was an editor and was engaged in the resettlement of refugees in France and the USA. Currently, he writes about security and military history for the War Is Boring website.
