Leopard A1A1 (L/44)

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Leopard A1A1 (L/44)
germ_leopard_a1a1_120.png
Leopard A1A1 (L/44)
AB RB SB
9.3 9.3 9.3
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This page is about the gift German medium tank Leopard A1A1 (L/44). For other variants, see Leopard 1 (Family).

Description

GarageImage Leopard A1A1 (L 44).jpg


The Leopard A1A1 (L/44) is a premium gift rank VI German medium tank with a battle rating of 9.3 (AB/RB/SB). It was introduced in Update 1.81 "The Valkyries".

General info

Survivability and armour

Players who have purchased the Leopard A1A1 L/44 should be familiar with the armour of non-premium Leopard 1s. If not, the Leopard may not be what people expect a tank to be. It was developed before composite materials were discovered at a time where HEAT shells were so effective that in order for armour to be effective, it would be so thick that it would not be practical. Hence, the designers of Leopard 1s, knowing that there was no possible way of stopping HEAT rounds, removed the concept of armour. In essence, the Leopard A1A1 has no armour. The front hull, accounting slope, is only some 130 mm thick. The turret and gun mantle are some 100 mm depending on the angle. The BMP-2's autocannon, for instance, loaded with APDS, will penetrate your turret and will cause major damage. Any HEAT projectile impacting the tank will likely result in instantly being destroyed. However, the engine block can at times reliably save the crew from HEAT shells. APDS and APFSDS are a different story. The armour on the Leopard A1A1 is so thin that most non-explosive-filled shells will seldom cause spalling upon penetrating the side of the tank. Frontal penetrations will cause much more damage, as the armour is just enough to cause spalling.

The ready rack ammo is stored vertically within your turret to the left side of the tank. So AP penetrations to the right side of your tank may not set off the ammo. But, 3/4 of your crew are sited in a single file on the right side. So a penetration will knock you out nonetheless. Try to take no more than 18 shells, as it will increase the likelihood of ammo cook-off. The point is not to get hit, because if anything hits you, it will go through, and it will cause damage.

In some cases, you could operate the tank backwards and use your engine block as a shield, as most HEAT shells will be absorbed by your transmission, radiator and engine, although in this position you have limited depression as the engine block forces the gun upwards. Despite these limitations, the tank can be surprisingly survivable, provided it is played carefully rather than relying on the armour. Also, it will usually take 2 hits to kill this tank, so if you are hit, pop smoke, retreat, repair, and re-appear somewhere else on the map.

Mobility

Game Mode Max Speed (km/h) Weight (tons) Engine power (horsepower) Power-to-weight ratio (hp/ton)
Forward Reverse Stock Upgraded Stock Upgraded
Arcade 73 28 43 1,286 1,584 29.91 36.84
Realistic 66 26 734 830 17.07 19.3

The mobility of the Leopard A1A1 (L/44) is between the XM-1 and T-55AM-1. Forward speed off-road, expect some 40-50 km/h. The reverse is about -15 km/h off-road. The neutral steering is absolutely amazing, you are able to swivel your tank easily. The suspensions are also great, very soft with great dampening effects, so expect a smooth drive. Overall, manoeuvrability is excellent, and should be used to your advantage since the tank has limited armour.

Armaments

Main armament

Main article: Rh120 L/44 (120 mm)

The legendary 120 mm Rheinmetall L44 cannon does not fall short of its name. You get access to only two types of shells, DM13 APFSDS and DM12 HEAT-FS, with both being highly competitive and effective at its battle-rating. The DM13 APFSDS round has a whopping 390 mm of penetration and is capable of defeating any armour of any tank this tank may potentially face, bar the T-64B. The round also travels extremely fast at 1,650 m/s, making long-range shooting and hitting moving targets exceptionally easy. The HEAT-FS, on the other hand, will result in hull-breaks on lightly armoured targets while also being free of cost. The 120 mm HEAT with its 480 mm penetration is able hull-break Object 120s and 906s and anything that's not a main battle tank. For example, you can hit the tracks of an anti-aircraft vehicle, and it will hull-break. The 1,140 m/s velocity may, however, make long-range engagements more difficult, especially when dealing with moving targets.

The L44 also features a decent reload time of 8.7 seconds stock and 6.7 seconds spaded, which is comparable to its 105 mm armed counterpart. The gun also features a stabiliser, making firing on the move a definite capability. However, it only works up to around 30 to 40 km/h. Beyond that, the gun becomes quite jittery and hard to aim.

120 mm Rh120 L/44 Turret rotation speed (°/s) Reloading rate (seconds)
Mode Capacity Vertical Horizontal Stabilizer Stock Upgraded Full Expert Aced Stock Full Expert Aced
Arcade 41 -9°/+20° ±180° Two-plane 22.8 31.6 38.4 42.5 45.2 8.71 7.70 7.10 6.70
Realistic 14.3 16.8 20.4 22.6 24.0

Ammunition

Penetration statistics
Ammunition Type of
warhead
Penetration @ 0° Angle of Attack (mm)
10 m 100 m 500 m 1,000 m 1,500 m 2,000 m
DM13 APFSDS 393 390 384 376 367 359
DM12 HEATFS 480 480 480 480 480 480
Shell details
Ammunition Type of
warhead
Velocity
(m/s)
Projectile
Mass (kg)
Fuse delay
(m)
Fuse sensitivity
(mm)
Explosive Mass
(TNT equivalent) (g)
Ricochet
0% 50% 100%
DM13 APFSDS 1,650 4.44 N/A N/A N/A 78° 80° 81°
DM12 HEATFS 1,140 13.5 0.05 0.1 2,150 65° 72° 77°

Ammo racks

Ammo racks of the Leopard A1A1 (L/44)
Full
ammo
1st
rack empty
2nd
rack empty
Visual
discrepancy
41 12 (+29) (+40) No

Machine guns

Main article: MG3A1 (7.62 mm)

The Leopard A1A1 (L/44) mounts one coaxial 7.62 mm machine gun and one pintle-mounted 7.62 mm machine gun. These both have particularly high rates of fire, while these are more of deterrents to helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft, as the small calibre bullets will rarely cause critical damage to aircraft, they can also be useful to clear light obstacles and crew in open-top vehicles.

7.62 mm MG3A1
Mount Capacity (Belt) Fire rate Vertical Horizontal
Coaxial 4,500 (1,000) 1,200 N/A N/A
Pintle 2,000 (1,000) 1,200 -8°/+20° ±120°

Usage in battles

Arcade battles

The Leopard A1A1 (L/44) sports an excellent 120 mm L/44 cannon which can make short work of any vehicle that it sees without any issues. However, its armour is extremely lacking and the mobility while good is not as good as an OF-40 (MTCA) or AMX-30 Super. Playing in Arcade battles, it's best to make sure that you are always the first to fire, ensuring you get the jump on your enemies first. What's best done is to hull down and take advantage of the rather good 9 degrees of gun depression and ensuring that you are currently covering a relatively active zone of combat. With its cannon, it can be a very effective sniper or defensive vehicle as those both styles usually involves getting the jump on the enemy while remaining stationary in a concealed position. If done right, the Leopard A1A1 (L/44) can be an extremely effective weapon in Arcade Battles. It's still best to prioritize targets by targeting the most dangerous ones first in order to be of most help to your team. The tank's mobility does allow for flanking however avoid direct confrontation as much as possible.

Realistic battles

The primary role of the Leopard A1A1 (L/44) should be that of a long-range sniper and flanker. Its incredible firepower with its 120 mm gun makes it easy to engage and destroy any tank from long distances while remaining concealed and thus protected from enemy fire. The good mobility on this vehicle allows you to reach good positions to snipe from and the laser rangefinder makes long-range targeting easy. The lack of armour on this tank makes direct engagements very risky and often nonviable so keeping at a distance maximizes your chances of survival and opportunity to inflict damage. Alternatively, the Leopard can be employed in flanking manoeuvres, using its good mobility to encircle the enemy and destroy them while they are unaware, again removing the danger of enemy fire destroying your tank. If you want to take a risk, you could rush a cap circle at the beginning of a match, if you tag along with other, better armed MBTs. However, this will almost always result in being destroyed, especially since the vehicle is vulnerable to artillery.

Modules

Tier Mobility Protection Firepower
I Tracks Parts Horizontal Drive DM13
II Suspension Brake System FPE Adjustment of Fire
III Filters Crew Replenishment Elevation Mechanism Smoke grenade
IV Transmission Engine Artillery Support Laser rangefinder NVD
This is a premium vehicle: all modifications are unlocked on purchase

Pros and cons

Pros:

  • Good mobility with excellent hull traverse and reverse speeds
  • Effective gun with powerful ammunition able to defeat any opponent at its battle-rating
  • The reload speed hasn't changed despite its new 120 mm cannon
  • Laser rangefinder
  • Despite the addition of bigger gun, the mobility hasn't changed
  • Thermal sight for gunner
  • Excels at long-range engagements

Cons:

  • Armour does not reliably protect against even autocannons
  • No available heavy machine gun, often helpless against helicopter attacks
  • Huge ammo rack in hull, any penetrating shot at the area will destroy the tank

History

Development of a Leopard 1 fitted with the 120mm L44 cannon began as a private venture of the Rheinmetall company, hoping that such a Leopard 1 variant would be of interest, not just to the German army due to logistical commonalities with the Leopard 2 and higher performance of the gun, but also to international customers seeking third generation MBT features on older machines.

In the early 1980s, a Leopard 1A1A1 was modified with a thicker cast steel mantlet, suitable for mounting the Rheinmetall 120mm cannon, and additional interior changes to hold the respective ammunition. Further changes were applied in early 1985, with the installation of the EMES 18 fire control system from the Leopard 1A5.

Although there were several different prototypes based on Leopard 1 outfitted with the 120mm Rheinmetall cannon, none of them managed to justify a costly large scale upgrade effort of existing Leopard 1s. The upgrade was largely considered redundant due to the already more advanced Leopard 2 being in service.

- From Devblog

Media

See also

Related developments - Leopard 1 (Family)
Similar vehicle of the era that were up-gunned

External links


Germany medium tanks
Pz.III  Pz.III B · Pz.III E · Pz.III F · Pz.III J · Pz.III J1 · Pz.III J1 TD · Pz.III L · Pz.III M · Pz.III N
Pz.IV  Pz.IV C · Pz.IV E · Pz.IV F1 · Pz.IV F2 · Pz.IV G · Pz.IV H · Pz.IV J · Pz.Bef.Wg.IV J
Pz.V  VK 3002 (M) · Panther A · Panther D · Panther F · Panther G · Ersatz M10 · Panther II
M48 upgrades  M48A2 G A2 · M48 Super
Leopard 1  Leopard I · Leopard A1A1 · Leopard A1A1 (L/44) · Leopard 1A5 · C2A1 · Turm III
Leopard 2  PT-16/T14 mod. · Leopard 2K · Leopard 2AV
  Leopard 2A4 · Leopard 2 (PzBtl 123) · Leopard 2A4M · Leopard 2 PL · Leopard 2A5 · Leopard 2 PSO · Leopard 2A6 · Leopard 2A7V
Trophies  ▀M4 748 (a) · ▀T 34 747 (r)
Other  Nb.Fz. · KPz-70
USA  mKPz M47 G · M48A2 C
USSR  ◊T-72M1

Germany premium ground vehicles
Light tanks  Pz.II C (DAK) · Pz.Sfl.Ic · Pz.Sp.Wg.P204(f) KwK · Sd.Kfz. 140/1 · Sd.Kfz.234/1 · Ru 251 · SPz 12-3 LGS · TAM 2IP
Medium tanks  Nb.Fz. · Pz.III N · Pz.Bef.Wg.IV J · ▀M4 748 (a) · ▀T 34 747 (r) · Ersatz M10
  mKPz M47 G · Turm III · Leopard A1A1 (L/44) · Leopard 2 (PzBtl 123) · Leopard 2A4M
Heavy tanks  ▀Pz.Kpfw. Churchill · ▀KV-IB · ▀KW I C 756 (r) · ▀KW II 754 (r)
  VK 45.01 (P) · ␠Tiger · Pz.Bef.Wg.VI P · Tiger II (H) Sla.16
Tank destroyers  Sd.Kfz.234/3 · Sd.Kfz.234/4 · Sd.Kfz.251/10 · Sd.Kfz.251/22 · 15 cm Pz.W.42
  Brummbär · Panzer IV/70(A) · VFW · Bfw. Jagdpanther G1 · Elefant · 38 cm Sturmmörser