Leopard 2A5
| This page is about the medium tank Leopard 2A5. For other uses, see Leopard (Family). |
Contents
Description
The Leopard 2A5 is a rank VIII German medium tank with a battle rating of 12.0 (AB/RB/SB). It was introduced in Update 1.87 "Locked On".
The succeeding variant of the Leopard 2A4, the Leopard 2A5 is distinguished by an overall improved turret front armour, most notably with the add-on armour bulks in the turret front, giving a wedge-shape rather than the flat shapes that the 2A4 variant presented.
General info
Survivability and armour
The Leopard 2A5 has improved armour compared to its predecessor, the hull is much better protected and the already impenetrable turret cheeks have more protection on the side of the turret. Add-on armour boosts the ability to protect against HEAT-FS and early ADFSDS rounds. The wedges on the front of the turret are able to be blown off if a round with enough energy hits it.The gunners optic is also moved into the roof to eliminate the weak spot which was easily penetrated by any tank.
One big changeover along with the armour wedges in the front is the repositioning of the gunner's sight. In the 2A4, the gunner's sight in the turret front presented a weakness that was easily compromised. In the 2A5, the gunner's sight was relocated to the turret roof, and so this weakness is no longer present on the 2A5. Additionally, the large mantlet of the 2A4 has been replaced by a far smaller and more armoured mantlet, making it far harder to hit, though most ammunition at top tier can still penetrate it easily.
Be aware of Soviet tanks though! Most of them will carry their HE rounds that can easily destroy you anywhere they hit. A hit directly to the turret will most likely send fragments into your hull, penetrate and lets your fuel tank explode or at least set a fire and knock out the gun barrel.
| Armour | Front (Slope angle) | Sides | Rear | Roof |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hull | 35 mm (53-82°) Upper glacis 40 mm (50-51°) Lower glacis |
10 mm (5°) Upper hull 35 mm (0°) Lower forward hull 20 mm (0°) Lower rear hull |
20 mm (12-50°) All rear | 20 mm (0-8°) Hull roof incl. engine deck |
| Turret | 80 mm (57-59°) Right cheek add-on 80 mm (55-58°) Left cheek add-on 30 mm (63°) Upper mantlet add-on 400 mm (1°) Mantlet armour 250 mm (9°) Mantlet shroud |
80 mm (20-22°) Right add-on 80 mm (22°) Left add-on 35 mm (0°) Forward 15 mm (0°) Rear |
20 mm (10°) Basket 20 mm (70°) Turret underside |
35 - 40 mm (80-89°) Forehead Armour 14 mm (68-82°) Forward sides 20 mm (89°) Rear turret 20 mm (83°) Basket |
| Composite armour | Front | Sides | ||
| Hull | Upper+Lower glacis 400 mm Kinetic 600 mm Chemical |
N/A | ||
| Turret | turret cheeks 800 mm Kinetic 1200 mm Chemical Gun mantlet (Center) Gun mantlet (Outer) |
Side armour 260 mm Kinetic 230 - 285 mm Chemical | ||
Notes:
- Upper hull and Lower rear hull overlap (10 + 20 mm thick)
- Upper mantlet add-on and Mantlet armour overlap (30 + 400 mm thick)
- Holes in the engine deck are covered by 8 mm of mesh
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 | 76 | 35 | 59.5 | 2,032 | 2,862 | 34.15 | 48.1 |
| Realistic | 69 | 31 | 1,327 | 1,500 | 22.3 | 25.21 | |
The only drawback compared to the previous model would be the Leopard 2A5's mobility since, despite the 4 tons increase in weight, the engine remains the same, so the Leopard 2A5 is both slower and less manoeuvrable compared to the Leopard 2A4, but it can still keep up with the other nations MBTs. The engine remains the same MTU (MOTOREN-UND TURBINEN-UNION FRIEDRICHSHAFEN GMBH) MB 873 Ka-501 engine which produces 1,500 hp (1,100 KW) at 2,600 RPM.
Modifications and economy
| Mobility | Protection | Firepower | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
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The first modifications to research should be Parts and FPE. After those, aim for the NVD, DM33, Laser rangefinder, or mobility upgrades, depending on the desired playstyle.
Armaments
Main armament
The Leopard 2A5 has access to the DM33 APFSDS shells which make it a deadlier foe as few tanks can stand against it with the exception of the M1A2 Abrams, Challenger 2 and T-80U.
| 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 | 42 | -9°/+20° | ±180° | Two-plane | 38.1 | 52.7 | 64.0 | 70.8 | 75.3 | 7.80 | 6.90 | 6.36 | 6.00 |
| Realistic | 23.8 | 28.0 | 34.0 | 37.6 | 40.0 | ||||||||
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 | ||
| DM12A1 | HEATFS | 480 | 480 | 480 | 480 | 480 | 480 |
| DM23 | APFSDS | 410 | 408 | 401 | 393 | 384 | 376 |
| DM33 | APFSDS | 481 | 478 | 470 | 461 | 450 | 440 |
| 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% | |||||||
| DM12A1 | HEATFS | 1,140 | 13.5 | 0.05 | 0.1 | 2,150 | 65° | 72° | 77° |
| DM23 | APFSDS | 1,640 | 4.3 | N/A | N/A | N/A | 78° | 80° | 81° |
| DM33 | APFSDS | 1,640 | 4.3 | N/A | N/A | N/A | 78° | 80° | 81° |
Ammo racks
| Full ammo |
1st rack empty |
2nd rack empty |
Visual discrepancy |
|---|---|---|---|
| 42 | 16 (+26) | 1 (+41) | No |
Notes:
- The 2nd Rack serves as First-Stage ammo stowage.
Machine guns
| 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
The Leopard 2A5 is slower, but it has much better armour and access to the DM33 round. With these new changes, the playstyle changes a bit too:
- Hull down: In the 2A4, the gunners optic was easily penetrated so the hull-down was still vulnerable. However, in the 2A5, this weak spot is eliminated and the armour of the turret is much better, so a hull-down position can now leave the Leopard 2A5 invulnerable, but try to keep your turret protected as well, so then the armour package could last longer throughout the battle.
- Sniping: With the DM33 APFSDS round, the Leopard 2A5 can now make use of the great distance in combat to deal damage while tanking incoming shots. Try also make use of hull-down positions whilst sniping.
- Flanking: Due to the worse mobility compared to the 2A4, it is better to stick to more stationary tactics like hull-down and sniping. However, with a little bit of caution, flanking can still be successful.
- Staying with nearby teammates: Try and stick to nearby teammates as this can improve your lifespan throughout the game.
Pros and cons
Pros:
- Excellent 120 mm gun, DM33 APFSDS is capable of penetrating up to 481 mm maximum at point-blank range
- Impenetrable turret cheeks, the add-on wedge armour makes the turret immune from every shell in the game (average of 850 mm against long rod APFSDS and 1,450 mm against HEAT)
- Extremely good armour on the UFP (430mm against long rod APFSDS), immune to every shell in the game except DM33, DM53, M829(A1), L26(A1), OFL 120 G1, 3BM42(M) and CL3143
- Great gun handling: 40°/s turret rotation speed (with Ace crew) and -9°/+20° of vertical guidance
- Side turret covered by add-on armour can bounce early APFSDS shells
- Gunner optics are now mounted on top of the turret, removing the annoying weak spot present on the Leopard 2A4
- Cannon barrel and cannon breech absorbs impact rounds which may otherwise penetrate the turret and injure crews
- Gun breech and mantlet has a smaller profile than other western MBTs
- Very good thermal imaging quality (Generation 2 for Binoculars, 800 x 600, and Generation 1 for Gunner's view, 500 x 300)
- Very good all round tank especially when played properly
Cons:
- Lower glacis can still be penetrated by most shells (but is expected for most MBTs)
- 16 shells in the ready-rack may be insufficient when playing in Arcade Battles
- If your turret ammo rack is shot, you might survive but then you lose all your unloaded ammo storage
- Huge hull ammo-rack if more than 16 shells are carried consequently making the tank extremely vulnerable to HE shells
- A penetrating shot on the left side of the hull will most likely knock out the driver, gunner and commander, thus destroying the tank
- A penetrating shell on the right side of the hull will most likely hit the ammo-rack, destroying the tank
- Just like all Leopard series, raised engine deck means less gun depression when the turret is facing the rear
- The wedges can be shot off with several hits, though the turret cheeks alone provide 650 mm against KE
- Tank's weight is 4 tons increased while the engine is still the same, making the Leopard 2A5 slower compared to the 2A4
- Despite all the added armour, the turret ring and driver's hatch are both easily penetrated, and the enemy will most likely aim at these two spots to disable or destroy the tank
- Is outperformed by its successor, the Leopard 2A6, in terms of firepower. The longer L/55 cannon on the Leopard 2A6 increases the performance of DM33 while also having access to the best APFSDS in the game, the DM53.
History
In 1988, German engineers began work on modernizing the Leopard 2 main battle tank. Improvements were made to the tank's defensive capabilities, primarily the turret armour. Moreover, the 2A5 model was fitted with an electric stabiliser instead of the electro-hydraulic variant that the previous versions used.
The gunner received improved and less vulnerable optics, and the tank commander – a panoramic periscope with thermal imaging. The build of the driver's hatch was also modified, along with several other minor improvements made to the general design.
Leading to the 2A5 modernization program being officially approved by the military officials of Germany, Sweden and the Netherlands. It is interesting to note that the models exported to the last two countries on the list were actually different from the ones issued to the German army – for instance, the Bundeswehr tanks received no extra frontal hull armour. Production of Leopard 2A5 tanks began in 1995. Overall, 350 earlier-version Leopards were upgraded as a result of the program.
- From Devblog
Media
Leopard 2A5 at 27:52
See also
- Related development
- Leopard 2A4 - (Preceding vehicle)
- ␙ Leopard 2A5 - (YT 2019 Cup Prize)
- Strv 122A
- Strv 122B PLSS
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 |
