German Leopard 2A8 is worse than the Norwegian 2A8NO (no LWS, no roof MG, trial-vehicle config)

Machinery of War Discussion Ground Vehicle
,
1

I’m honestly frustrated with how the German Leopard 2A8 was added, and judging by the dev blog thread I’m not the only one.

Germany builds this tank and is its main operator. German players waited years for it. And on release day, the best 2A8 in the game is in the Swedish tree. The Norwegian 2A8NO gets a laser warning system and a roof MG. The German 2A8 gets neither, plus it’s heavier and slower than the 2A7V it’s supposed to replace.

This isn’t about wanting an OP tank. It’s about the German version of a German tank not being the worst-equipped one in the game.

1. No laser warning system

  • The 2A8NO has LWS in game. The German 2A8 doesn’t.
  • hartpunkt’s report on the November 2025 Munich rollout says the German tank could be told apart from the Norwegian one by the LWS missing from the turret front. The Norwegian tank uses an Israeli-made LWS, and the German batch is set to get a German-made LWS that is already in service with frontline units.
  • hartpunkt also reported LWS is planned for the German 2A8 in the follow-up orders.
  • Trophy and LWS are separate systems. Trophy doesn’t cover laser warning.

2. No roof MG

  • The 2A8NO has one. The German 2A8’s stat card lists only the coaxial MG3A1, while even the older 2A7V has two MGs in game.

3. Germany got the trial vehicle, Norway got the finished one

  • The German 2A8 in game matches an early training/test configuration, without LWS or a roof MG. The Norwegian one is modeled as a fully equipped service tank.
  • On top of that, the German tank’s gun depression was cut from -9° to -7.4° using brochure data from trial vehicles. So Germany gets the early version’s downsides, while Norway gets the complete version.
  • Pick one standard and apply it to both.

4. Side modules

  • Some players say the 2A8NO has extra side composite armor, others say those long boxes are just snow grouser storage. Devs, please confirm how they’re modeled. If storage boxes are giving the 2A8NO extra protection, that’s an error that needs fixing.

5. It’s a downgrade from the 2A7V too
From the in-game RB stat cards (★ top-crew values, screenshots attached):

  • 66.6 t vs 63.9 t on the same 1500 hp
  • 60 km/h vs 63 km/h forward, 27.2 vs 28.6 km/h reverse
  • Turret traverse 34°/s vs 40°/s, even with a perfect crew
  • Same BR (13.3), same DM53

Trophy is the only thing the German 2A8 does better.

What needs to happen

  1. Add a laser warning system to the German 2A8. Even a middle-ground option such as MUSS 2.0 or the Elbit sensors would be better than nothing.
  2. Add the roof MG if it’s documented for German service vehicles.
  3. Model the German 2A8 in its service configuration, or apply the same standard to both nations.
  4. Confirm how the 2A8NO’s side boxes are modeled.

If you have primary sources (Bundeswehr/BAAINBw statements, rollout or Eurosatory photos), post them below or attach them to a suggestion or bug report. That’s what actually gets things changed.

  • Yes, the German 2A8 should get LWS and a roof MG like the 2A8NO
  • No, keep it as it is
  • Not sure
0 voters

Sources:

1 Like
2

There’s already existing topics for the Leopard 2A8, please refer to them rather than creating new topics that flood the forum.

You can find similar topics by searching for them.
https://forum.warthunder.com/search?q=2A8%20%20in%3Atitle

1 Like
3

Why use the search function when you can flood though?

4

a close up of a cat 's face with a person holding a remote control

1 Like
5

It is the same on both, the 2a8’s turret traverse is also 40°/s

1 Like