A Polish article from the Military University of Land Forces states that, in training, Leopard 2 loaders were able to achieve drastically different results than those we currently see in-game, at a max of 6 seconds with an aced crew.
These results indicated a highest-achievable time for Leopard 2 loaders after 2 months of training, of 4.38 seconds and an average of 5 seconds while on the move, which makes the current 6 seconds rather questionable.
The article provided an analysis on the simulation systems used for the training of Leopard 2 crew members, and in this case specifically the loader.
Below you can see the given values during testing achieved by the loaders in the simulation for the amount of time it took for reloads:
Given recent changes that were made to tanks of other nations, Leopard 2’s in particular sit rather far behind with their reloading time in-game, unless, which isn’t at all always the case, a player has a fully aced-crew. This should therefore be taken into consideration.
Of course you can reload very fast if you (as a loader) hold the next shell in your arms. But then it defeats the purpose of an isolated ammo compartment.
Also the game does not simulate the difficulty of loading when the tank is on the move through rough terrain, or loader fatigue.
And also the sweet spot of the ammunition which normally consist of 5 rounds before the loader has a harder time getting to the ammunition even in the isolated ammo compartment
These results are easily achievable in a Leopard 2 including the aspect of opening & closing the blast door. That’s not the issue. The Abrams does it, the Leopard can as well. Just because the reload is fast doesn’t mean the loader is ‘holding the round in his arms’ ← this also defeats the point of the military simulation used for training.
It’s a common myth in western tanks that is often thrown up as an argument for keeping the reload time nerfed. Opening and closing the blast door adds maybe half if not a fraction of a second onto it in total, especially considering the fact how some loaders can achieve 3-4 seconds with an open blast door.
Additionally, the aspect of it being done on the move is simply to add onto the literacy of the 5 seconds. I know it’s not simulated in-game, this is just to prove my point.
Yes they are, which is why we need the buff.
German 12.7 is at 41% win rate in ground RB, the lowest of all nations. If the Abrams got the reload buff for balancing reasons, it is time to do the same for leopards. Btw, sweden 12.7 has the second lowest win rate and its top tier is up armored leopard 2s.
These are the numbers reported by StatShark for March 2026.
2A4’s are the strongest MBTs at 10.7, and the 2A7 is the strongest MBT at 12.7. You could argue the other variants could use a reload buff but buffing these two would be crazy. Buffing only the ones inbetween… also kinda crazy
I’m not saying the leopards are bad, I quite like them. But statistics don’t lie, they are the worst win rate top tier MBTs. At least the german variations. The 2a7hu is the only, non-russian MBT with a win rate >50%, but that one has less than 1/5th the games played than the 2a7v. And that is just the 2a7, everything else definitely needs something.
The 2a5 and upwards got mid life upgrades to gen 2 thermals, that might improve the other variations while not changing the 2a7. However, the german ones still have worse win rates than any other nations top tier MBTs.
I’ve just read an article about upgraded Leopard 1 tanks in Ukraine. It focused mainly on their armor / drone defense (its said one took already 52 drone hits and is still servicable).
In one sentence an UKR frontline tanker stated that the loader consistently reloads a new shell every 3 to 4 seconds.
I guess its like this for all western MBTs with their spacious turrets. Its easy for loaders to work in this enviroment. Its also consistent to in-turret cams showing similar reload rates.
Three to four secs…vs ingame… This doesn’t even takes into account when the loader prepares the next shell and grabs it in advance…to put it in literally immeadetly.
Reloading is a balance factor, if we wanna be real the Challengers in-game could get a reload of like 2-3s which would be incredibly OP. Also this would mean overtime realistically reload time would increase and by the end of a battle depending how much you shoot reload time would be pretty similar to what we have now.
Also your source is from gigachad Polish tankers, and not German tankers. Would only apply to Leo 2PL bro and just base crew, experienced Polish loader can reload in around 2137 nanoseconds
Well they do perform worse than allegedly worse and much more played russian MBTs for example
They dont necessarily perform bad, because theyre bad tanks but a tank can only get you so far against CAS and LDIRCM helis. With the current winrate its pretty apparent that Germany needs some kind of buff at top tier.
If you go back in time to check, when the German ground win rates tanked, it’s rather easy to see.
It was September 2025, when the LMURs and AGM-179 got introduced. At that point it dropped 5% and then another 2-3% when the BMPT got released.
Now we are at a point, where German ground is in a really rough, almost unplayable, state.
