Rheinmetall Leopard - Family of vehicles


Rheinmetall Leopard MBT - The Main Battle Tank MBT LEOPARD 2PL is designed for target engagement from a stationary position and on the move as well as for deployment by day and night. It can make use of its performance potential under the ambient conditions to be expected on the potential battlefield. 
The system is based on a maintained and repaired standard Polish MBT Leopard 2 A4, consists with additional integrated upgrades and enhancements.
The Leopard 2PL upgrade is broadly similar to the Rheinmetall Revolution MBT. It has got improved armor protection, improved gun, iomproved sights and some other systems. However despite all improvements the Polish Leopard 2PL is not as capable as the upgraded Leopard 2A7 upgraded by Krauss-Maffei Wegmann, which entered service with the German Army in 2014. The Leopard 2PL looses to Leopard 2A7 in the key areas of protection, firepower, accuracy, and onboard electronic systems.
   The Polish Leopard 2PL has improved armor protection. An Advanced Modular Armor Protection (AMAP) composite armor kit, developed by the IBD Deusebroth company of Germany, was fitted to the turret. This armor is a part of Rheinmetall Revolution upgrade package. It uses new nano-ceramics materials and modern titanium and steel alloys. This armor provides higher level of protection against wide range of threats. Up-armored turret of the Leopard 2PL offers higher protection than turret of the Leopard 2A5, however it can not match protection level of the Leopard 2A7. The armor kit is modular, so damaged armor modules can be replaced in field conditions. It is planned that the AMAP armor modules will be produced in Poland under license.
The Leopard 2PL tank retains a 120 mm/L44 smoothbore gun of its predecessor. However the gun was modified by Rheinmetall to be compatible with newly-developed high pressure ammunition, such as programmable DM11 high-explosive air-burst ammunition, and high power DM53 and DM63 armor-piercing rounds. The programmable rounds enable to engage targets behind cover and within buildings. These multi-purpose DM11 rounds can be also used against enemy troops, armored vehicles and low-flying helicopters. The gun can also fire any other standard NATO 120 mm tank ammunition. The gun is loaded manually by the loader. A total of 42 rounds are carried inside the tank. 15 rounds are stored in the turret bustle and are ready to use. Remaining rounds are stored inside the hull. The turret bustle is separated from the crew compartment and has a blow-out panels.
 The Leopard 2PL retains the engine of its predecessor. It is powered by an MTU MB-837 Ka501 turbocharged diesel engine, developing 1 500 hp. This tank is also fitted with Steyr Auxiliary Power Unit (APU), which powers all systems, when the main engine is turned off. The same APU is used on the Leopard 2A7. Cross-country performance is similar to that of its predecessor. This tank can be fitted with a deep wading kit and ford shallow rivers, lakes and other water obstacles up to 4 m deep.

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