Leopard 2A4

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Rank VI USSR | Premium | Golden Eagles
Su-25K Pack
germ_leopard_2a4.png
Leopard 2A4
AB RB SB
10.3 10.3 10.3
Class:
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This page is about the medium tank Leopard 2A4. For other uses, see Leopard (Family).

Description

GarageImage Leopard 2A4.jpg


The Leopard 2A4 is a Rank VII German medium tank with a battle rating of 10.3 (AB/RB/SB). It was introduced in Update 1.79 "Project X".

General info

Survivability and armour

The armour protection on the Leopard 2A4 can be described as "decent" with the essential areas covered but not much more. While the turret cheeks are well protected against both kinetic (~400mm equivalent, sloped) and chemical (~620mm equivalent, sloped) rounds, the upper frontal plate of the chassis will generally not stop an APDSFS (~150mm equivalent, sloped) round from any of its competitors, but will prevent most chemical rounds from penetrating (~520mm equivalent, sloped). However, the lower front plate is even more vulnerable (280mm equivalent vs HEAT and, 150mm equivalent vs kinetic projectiles, both sloped). Like in the case of its competitors, the turret ring is unprotected and so are the hull sides. While the cannon breech is also lacking in protection, it is not completely absent.

The four crew members are tightly packed with the driver, gunner and commander all forming a line on the starboard side of the tank, making them easy to eliminate in one hit if the Leopard 2A4 is facing the enemy with its hull and turret aligned towards it, thus knocking out the tank. The ammo rack of the tank is positioned in front on the port side, and makes for an easy target. This disadvantage can be easily negated by simply using cover to engage in a hull-down position. There is also a ready-rack at the back of the turret, with blow-out panels to prevent the detonation of the ready-rack from destroying the vehicle (note that FPE must be researched in order for the ammo burnout to be put out).

The armour protection is generally enough if you wish to engage in a long range style of combat as shells will deviate ever so slightly from their predicted path, giving your armour a chance of absorbing them without much damage to be received, though the same can not be said if you wish to engage in fast paced urban combat where shells will land precisely where aimed and enemies will generally attack your sides.

Armour Front (Slope angle) Sides Rear Roof
Hull 35 mm (53-82°) Upper glacis
40 mm (50-51°) Lower glacis
30 mm (82°) Driver's hatch
10 mm (5°) Upper hull
35 mm (0°) Lower forward hull
20 mm (0°) Lower rear hull
5 mm (0°) Side Skirts
100 mm (0°) Composite screening
20 mm (12-50°) All rear 20 mm (0-8°) Hull roof incl. engine deck
Turret 35 mm (0-6°) Cheeks incl. Gunner optics
35 mm (1°) Mantlet
120 mm Rear Mantlet Plate
35 mm (0°) Forward
15 mm (0°) Rear
10 mm (10°) Basket
20 mm (70°) Turret underside
40 mm (82-85°) Forehead Armour
14 mm (72-77°) Forward sides
20 mm (89°) Rear turret incl. cupolas
5 mm (84°) Basket
Composite armour Front Sides
Hull Upper+Lower glacis
90 - 350 mm Kinetic
243 - 600 mm Chemical
N/A
Turret Turret cheeks
420 - 800 mm Kinetic
535 - 820 mm Chemical

Gun mantlet
100 - 270 mm Kinetic
300 - 480 mm Chemical

Side armour194 - 260 mm Kinetic
280 - 400 mm Chemical

Mobility

Mobility characteristic
Weight (tons) Add-on Armour
weight (tons)
Max speed (km/h)
56.0 N/A 79 (AB)
72 (RB/SB)
Engine power (horsepower)
Mode Stock Upgraded
Arcade 2,032 ____
Realistic/Simulator 1,327 ____
Power-to-weight ratio (hp/ton)
Mode Stock Upgraded
Arcade 36.29 __.__
Realistic/Simulator 23.70 __.__

Armaments

Main armament

120 mm Rheinmetall L44
Capacity Vertical
guidance
Horizontal
guidance
Stabilizer
42 -9°/+20° ±180° Two-plane
Turret rotation speed (°/s)
Mode Stock Upgraded Prior + Full crew Prior + Expert qualif. Prior + Ace qualif.
Arcade 38.08 52.71 64.00 __.__ 75.29
Realistic 23.8 28.0 34.0 37.6 40.0
Reloading rate (seconds)
Stock Prior + Full crew Prior + Expert qualif. Prior + Ace qualif.
7.80 6.9 6.4 __.__
Ammunition
Penetration statistics
Ammunition Type of
warhead
Penetration in mm @ 0° Angle of Attack
10m 100m 500m 1000m 1500m 2000m
DM12 HEATFS 650 650 650 650 650 650
DM13 APFSDS 393 390 384 376 367 359
DM23 APFSDS 410 408 401 393 384 376
Shell details
Ammunition Type of
warhead
Velocity
in m/s
Projectile
Mass in kg
Fuse delay

in m:

Fuse sensitivity

in mm:

Explosive Mass in g
(TNT equivalent):
Normalization At 30°
from horizontal:
Ricochet:
0% 50% 100%
DM12 HEATFS 1,140 13.5 0.0 0.1 1,640 +0° 65° 72° 75°
DM13 APFSDS 1650 4.44 N/A N/A N/A +1.5° 76° 77° 78°
DM23 APFSDS 1640 4.3 N/A N/A N/A +1.5° 78° 80° 81°
Ammo racks
Ammo racks of the Leopard 2A4.
Full
ammo
1st
rack empty
2nd
rack empty
Visual
discrepancy
42 16 (+26) (+41) no

1st rack empty: 16 (+26)

2nd rack has blowout panels

Machine guns

Main article: MG 3A1 (7.62 mm)
7.62 mm MG 3A1
Pintle mount
Capacity (Belt capacity) Fire rate
(shots/minute)
Vertical
guidance
Horizontal
guidance
2,000 (1,000) 1,200 -8°/+20° ±120°
Coaxial mount
Capacity (Belt capacity) Fire rate
(shots/minute)
Vertical
guidance
Horizontal
guidance
4,500 (1,000) 1,200 N/A N/A

Usage in battles

When stock, the HEATFS round will help you pick enemies from a distance, thus avoiding taking damage as you will have no Parts nor FPE, but will not be enough against some tanks like the M1 Abrams and the T-80B; T-64B when these tanks are equipped with add-on ERA. This becomes less of a problem once you have unlocked kinetic shells.

The vehicle, like most of its own league, can be played as a sniper tank due to its excellent optics, or in an urban environment thanks to its powerful engine, high top speed and acceleration and potent top shell which allows quick, but deadly snapshots.

Notable enemies are, on one hand, the IPM1 and M1 Abrams which are almost completely immune to your stock HEAT round, but have a weak turret ring and the Russian MBTs which can equip add-on armor in order to negate the effects of an initial HEAT shell, subsequent penetration is generally possible after the ERA blocks have been detonated; ERA blocks are negated by the use of APDSFS ammunition, notably the DM23 vs T-80B while the DM13 will be enough for all of the others, given a chassis hit.

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, DM23, Laser rangefinder

Pros and cons

Pros:

  • Powerful engine, high top speed and acceleration - turns very easily on the spot
  • High scope magnification for long range operations
  • Flat-shooting gun with high velocities allows easy long range shots without much adjustment necessary
  • Potent selection of ammunition - good HEATFS and very good APFSDS
  • Effective turret armour, capable of tanking hits from the front and bouncing side shots

Cons:

  • Hull armour leaves much to be desired
  • The stock DM12 HEATFS is soaked up by enemy tanks with ERA blocks, meaning you need to shoot the ERA away then follow up with a new shot
  • The gunner's optics are a weak spot, enemies who know how to aim can cripple your gun and kill your crew
  • Can be easily ammo racked - carrying only 16 rounds eliminiates this, but at the cost of a severely reduced ammo count
  • Difficult stock grind, sluggish and not very agile in the beginning
  • Next to no anti-air capability, can not reliably eliminate attacking helicopters except with the 120 mm cannon

History

Based on the testing results gathered from the various different Leopard 2K prototypes, a new Leopard 2 prototype was constructed that would be more representative of the final version of the vehicle. Designated as Leopard 2AV, the new prototype featured a redesigned hull and turret over the Leopard 2K. Furthermore, the prototype was tested with two different cannons; the British L7 105mm rifled and the German Rheinmetall 120mm smoothbore cannon.

In 1976, the Leopard 2AV was sent overseas to the United States to be comparatively tested against the new American state-of-the-art XM1 Abrams. During testing, the Leopard 2AV proved itself as a good counterpart to the Abrams, outperforming its competitor in terms of fire accuracy, whilst demonstrating somewhat inferior protection and gun handling. Upon arriving back to its homeland with positive testing results, the decision was made to begin mass production of the Leopard 2 in 1977.

The production version Leopard 2, however, differed from the AV prototype in receiving an increased level of protection before mass production began. Mass production of the Leopard 2 started in 1979 with the Leopard 2A0 forming the first batch that would enter service with the German Bundeswehr in late 1980.

Throughout the production period of the early Leopard 2 versions, modernization and upgrades were being applied on the assembly line in order to keep the newest Leopards up to the latest standards. These modernization efforts mostly involved the upgrading of internal modules such as the aiming and communications systems. As a result of this, all early Leopard 2s (A0-A4) were visually neigh identical to each other. The Leopard 2A4 was the final early Leopard 2 variant before the more advanced and heavily upgraded subsequent Leopard 2 versions made their appearance as part of a new wave of modernization efforts.

A total of 695 Leopard 2A4s were built out of the total of 2.125 early Leopard 2s that were manufactured between 1979 - 1991. The Leopard 2 and its variants served primarily with the German Bundeswehr, but a number of export vehicles were sold to nations world-wide, ranging from Canada and Chile, over Denmark and Austria to Greece and Turkey to name a few.

-From Devblog

Media

See also

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 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