Forbes: APU lost Leopard 1A5 tank for the first time after two weeks of use in combat
For the first time, the Ukrainian military lost a German Leopard 1A5 tank in battle, writes Forbes. The car drove into an open area in the afternoon and was hit by artillery fire, which the Russian military corrected from the copter. The tank lasted only a couple of weeks on the battlefield. Leopard 1A5 is the least protected and discontinued in Germany back in the 1980s. APU also uses a more modern modification - Leopard 2.
For the first time, the Ukrainian military lost a German Leopard 1A5 tank in battle - the least protected and discontinued back in the 1980s. This was reported by Forbes military columnist David Ex.
The author drew attention to a video taken from a drone, which captures how the tank first moves along the forest belt, then across the field. The tank fires, then for some reason stops (possibly as a result of hitting a mine), artillery shells fall next to it.
One of the fragments of the video shows the crew running away from the tank. Leopard 1A5 remains standing in the field with the hatches open, its body seems intact (so the car can probably be repaired). Judging by the reports in Telegram channels, the tank was used in the area of Kupyansk and Svatovo.
"The Ukrainian crew of the Leopard 1A5 DK tank very stupidly loses its tank by simply driving out into an open field and starting shooting. Our people drove the car from the copter from the very beginning, after which they fired from anti-tank weapons. The damaged tank has been abandoned," the authors of the channel "Turned on Z War" write .
In his article, David Ex expressed bewilderment that the tank was moving across an open field in broad daylight.
"In order to survive on a high-tech battlefield, the Leopard 1A5 crew must remain in hiding, fire from their main 105-millimeter cannon at a great distance - two miles (more than 3 km) or more - and when they change position, do it carefully and preferably at night," the Ex wrote.
According to the journalist, such a situation - artillery fire when aiming from a drone - should be avoided.
"It is difficult to say why the Leopard 1A5 crew put themselves in such a position that they were fired upon without fully understanding the circumstances. But the loss (of the tank) should at least reveal the weaknesses of the Leopard 1A5 and emphasize the strengths," he believes.
One out of two hundred
The Forbes columnist draws attention to the fact that the first Leopard 1A5 was lost by the APU just a couple of weeks after the start of their use in battles.
According to the journalist, this is the least protected tank used by Ukraine. However, it should not be confused with Leopard 2, also supplied to Ukraine.
"Leopard 1 was created in the 1950s, Leopard 2 - in the 1970s. Leopard 1 is a tank of the second post-war generation. It is distinguished by the priority of mobility. They are also distinguished by booking: Leopard 2 has a frontal combined booking, and Leopard 1 has a homogeneous one. Against modern anti-tank ammunition, the resistance of the Leopard 1 and other tanks of that generation is much lower. The firepower is also lower, there is a 105-millimeter cannon, which is not suitable for fighting modern tanks," explained Lente.<url>" researcher at the Center for American Studies of the IMEMO RAS, military analyst Ilya Kramnik.
In another of his publications, David Ex even calls the first Leopard "vintage". The thickness of the frontal armor is only 70 mm (Leopard 2 has a minimum of 550 mm). The Ex drew attention to the fact that the tank is used without additional armor, cages for protection from drones and reactive armor for hitting incoming missiles and projectiles.
"In order not to lose a lot of tanks too quickly, the 44th Brigade (the AFU unit using Leopard 1A5 tanks. - Ed.) and other Ukrainian Leopard 1A5 operators should fight from cover and move over rough terrain or, even better, under the cover of darkness," recommends David Ex.
It is expected that Ukraine will receive about two hundred Leopard 1A5 tanks in total.
Destruction of the second "Leopards"
The Russian Defense Ministry has repeatedly reported on the destruction of Leopard 2 tanks. In particular, in July, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu reported the destruction of 16 such vehicles.
"These are almost 100% of tanks of this type supplied by Poland and Portugal," Shoigu said at a conference call with the leadership of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation.
On October 30, Shoigu reported that since June 4, when the counteroffensive began, the AFU had lost about 600 tanks and almost 1.9 thousand armored vehicles of various classes.
Alexey Permyakov
