Leopard 1A5BE: Belgium's last MBT

[panzerknoef]

Would you like to see this in-game?

• Yes, don’t care how
• Yes, as a researchable vehicle
• Yes, as a premium/event/squadron vehicle
• No

Where would you like to see this vehicle?

• Belgian/BeNeLux tree
• German tree
• French tree
• Other
• I said no

Welcome again to yet another suggestion for a Belgian Leopard 1 variant. This time we’ll be looking at the Leopard 1A5BE, the last MBT to see service with the Belgian army.

Belgium had started its story with the Leopard 1 MBT in 1967, becoming the first export customer of the type. Following a modernization in in the mid to late 1970s, the tanks were set for a long life with the Belgian armed forces. However, by the late 80s they were starting to show their age, new technologies had entered the battlefield and these threatened the effectiveness of the Leopard 1BEs in battle. An upgrade program was started, of which the research phase was completed by mid-1986. This upgrade was intended to upgrade existing Leopard 1BEs with a new set of sights (including a thermal imager) and fire-control system, new electro-hydraulic systems and a muzzle-reference system. The first prototype was completed by 1988, this vehicle was outfitted with mounting points for additional spaced armor, but the latter was eventually not added over maintenance concerns. Later production vehicles also omitted these mountings. SABCA and OIP were jointly responsible for the integration and factory test of the new sight (under the leadership of OIP) and the integration and factory test of the new complete TFCS (under the leadership of SABCA). The new sight was housed on the top-right of the turret, this addition gave the tanks a well-recognizable visual clue to differentiate them from older models, and from their German counterparts. Production was slowly started in 1989, with 5 pre-production models being delivered by the end of 1990. After this, full-scale production was started, which ran until 1997. Only 132 Belgian Leopard 1s were upgraded to the 1A5BE standard, the other 202 were sold. The remaining 132 Leopard 1A5BEs also received a new paint job in the form of the standard NATO three-tone camouflage. The vehicles saw service in Kosovo under KFOR during 2000 and 2001, based in the northern salient of Kosovo on a strategic hill code-named ‘Notting Hill’. The unit was Regiment Gidsen, 17th Mechanised Brigade, which combined the home-based 1st and 2nd Gidsen Regiments into a single unit. The end of the cold war and the following massively decreased military budgets proved to eventually be the thing that ended the Leopard 1s career in Belgium. The vehicles started being retired in the late 2000s, with the last few eventually retiring in 2015. They were replaced by a far smaller force of wheeled Mowag Piranha IIIC DF90s.

The new upgrade gave the Leopards some brand new systems, but did not change anything on the gun or motorization of the vehicle. It is still armed with the 105mm L7A3 rifled cannon, supported by a 7.62mm FN MAG coaxial machine gun. An additional 7.62mm machine gun can also be mounted to the commander’s hatch. It is currently unclear to me what ammo the Belgian Leopard 1A5BEs used, but it seems likely that they were used with ammo produced by the Belgian company Mecar. Judging by introduction times and likely presence of earlier stock, the Leopard 1A5BEs would have probably used M1001, M1050, and perhaps early M1060 rounds. The new sights incorporated a thermal imager which is capable of identifying vehicles up to 2km away, and is capable of detecting them up to 8km away. This is a major improvement in night-time capabilities over the IR headlight which only had a range of about 1200m. Once again a bit of weight was added, and while it is unclear just how much, it probably didn’t affect mobility much compared to the original vehicle. The lack of extra spaced armor should also mean it has a slight mobility advantage over up-armored German models.

General characteristics:

• Crew: 4 (driver, gunner, loader, commander)
• Weight: 40t
• Engine: 1x MTU MB 838 CaM 500 providing 830hp
• Length: 9.54m
• Width: 3.37m
• Height: 2.70m

Armament:

• 1x 105mm L7A3 L/52 rifled cannon
• 1x 7.62mm FN MAG coaxial machine gun
• (optional) 1x 7.62mm FN MAG machine gun on commander’s hatch

Systems:

• 2-plane stabilizer
• Laser-rangefinder
• Ballistics-computer
• Thermal imager

Sources

Leopard Workshop : LW016 - Belgian Leopard 1A5BE

Leopard I - ABL-History Forum

The German Leopard 1 Tank - TankNutDave.com

Kampfpanzer Leopard 1A1(BE) (BE)

Army Guide

Leopard I MBT (1965)

Images

[MajorFooFoo]

As a big Leopard 1 fan I’d love seeing it as part of a BeNeLux tree. +1

[mr_boo]

yes yes yes gimme those MECAR shells

[ChieftainWarrior]

@panzerknoef

a new set of sights (including a thermal imager)

For just the gunner right? And what generation would it translate to in game, 1st gen like the 1A5?

[YamiXP]

Basically +1 in any case
The rest is everyone’s opinion and Gaijin’s thoughts…

[panzerknoef]

Gunner only and yes, gen 1

[Rambolf]

So how much of this is different from say the 1A5 in the german tree… just the rounds?

[mr_boo]

Well i’m not the most knowledgeable about it but i think the tracks are different which improves off-road speed, there’s that distinctive armored head on the right side of the turret which houses the laser rangefinder and other optics thingys, the FCS is Belgian from SABCA, the machine guns are different and some other minor changes here and there.
Basically it’s not a 1A5 bought from Germany but it’s been brought to 1A5 standard with Belgian stuff

[SiberianSnakeSIB]

I believe Leopard 1A5BE would be a good squadron vehicle (having fat IFV without anti-tank vehicles is awful), while Leopard 1A5BE MEXAS would be a nice premium and Leopard Cockerill 3105 would be great researchable top vehicle. Trio to fullfill everyone’s needs - the speedrunners, the donators and the grinders. If delivered in time, i’d instantly go for it after Abrams

[520BadGateway]

suggestion for Leopard 1A5BE with unmanned cockerill turret

[PlayedStatue626-live]

+1 so the Benelux ground subtree is less of a travesty

[Thomas_Belgium]

@520BadGateway

suggestion for Leopard 1A5BE with unmanned cockerill turret

Maybe check the passed suggestions? It’s already been suggested and passed to the devs…

Leopard 1A5 Cockerill 3105 Upgrade

poll [1-Leopard 1 Cockerill 3105 Upgrade] The Belgian company “John Cockerill Defense” recently presented an update of the Leopard 1A5, to do this it acquired a Leopard 1A5 from the Belgian army, verifying its integration on the frame of its modern “Cockerill 3105” turret, it then created a interface to be inserted between the turret and the chassis, which would allow the integration of the turret, an operation that took only one day, as only one cable was needed to bring power to the turret. T…

[WalletWorrier]

+1 for 10.0

[520BadGateway]

o nice

[520BadGateway]

i was not expecting tom belgium to be real, i thought only johnny american were real

[BSpiel8-live]

@panzerknoef

Judging by introduction times and likely presence of earlier stock, the Leopard 1A5BEs would have probably used M1001, M1050, and perhaps early M1060 rounds.

Seeing as though this vehicle is coming in the next major, I’m curious if there are any sources out there to confirm this. I know Gaijin probably wanted the Leopard 1A5BE to fill a specific gap but I’d be totally in favor of it getting a new shell or two depending on what the last handful of tanks were supplied with back in 2015.

[panzerknoef]

At the time of writing this information was provided by someone who served in the army. I’ve not got official sources for it yet, but research is underway.

[Thomas_Belgium]

DST-1160Z-029-94 and several other sources identify M1001, M1050 and M1060 as Belgian-developed 105 mm APFSDS-T ammunition for the M68/L7 gun family. Together with Belgian HESH, HEAT, HE, smoke and illumination rounds, they form a complete Belgian 105 mm tank ammunition suite. Although no procurement document has yet been located that explicitly lists these rounds as Belgian Leopard 1A5BE service ammunition, Mecar’s position as Belgium’s principal tank ammunition manufacturer and supplier to the Belgian Army (which is reflected in Senatorial hearings, KNDS communication and in hundreds of interviews over the decades) makes it highly likely that these munitions were procured domestically for Leopard 1 operations.

here’s some stats on these rounds:

105 mm

Designation	Gun	Caliber	Type	Velocity	Weight	Penetration	Notes
M393A2	NATO 105 mm L7	105 mm	HESH	732 m/s	11.25 kg	~127 mm	Belgian copy of US M393A2. DST-1160Z-029-94
M416	NATO 105 mm L7	105 mm	Smoke (WP)	732 m/s	11.6 kg	/	Belgian copy of US M416. DST-1160Z-029-94
M1001	NATO 105 mm M68/(L7?)	105 mm	APFSDS-T	1525 m/s	5.8 kg	?	Monolithic tungsten alloy core. Cartridge length 985 mm. DST identifies weapon as M68 gun, we’re not sure if the L7 could fire that round yet, although anecdotal references do support it. Likely predecessor of M1050/M1060
M1010	NATO 105 mm L7	105 mm	HE-T	700 m/s	12.1 kg	/	2.0 kg Comp B filler. Belgian indigenous HE round. DST-1160Z-029-94
M1050	NATO 105 mm L7	105 mm	APFSDS-T	1510 m/s	5.8 kg	?	Monolithic tungsten alloy core. Cartridge length 927 mm. Specifically listed for L7 guns in DST-1160Z-029-94
M1060	NATO 105 mm L7	105 mm	APFSDS-T	1510 m/s	5.8 kg	?	Monolithic tungsten alloy core. Cartridge length 980 mm. DST-1160Z-029-94
M1060A1	NATO 105 mm L7	105 mm	APFSDS-T	1510 m/s	5.8 kg	400 mm @ 60° / 2000 m	First major production improvement of M1060 family
M1060A2	NATO 105 mm L7	105 mm	APFSDS-T	1460 m/s	6.2 kg	440 mm @ 60° / 2000 m	Longer/heavier penetrator
M1060A3	NATO 105 mm L7	105 mm	APFSDS-T	1560 m/s	6.2 kg	>500 mm @ 60° / 2000 m	Current KNDS Belgium specification
M1061	NATO 105 mm L7	105 mm	HEAT-T	1173 m/s	10.5 kg	400 mm	Belgian copy of US M456A2. Confirmed in DST-1160Z-029-94
M490	NATO 105 mm L7	105 mm	HEAT-TP	Ballistically matched	20.45 kg complete	/	Training round matched to M456A2
M467	NATO 105 mm L7	105 mm	HESH-TP	Ballistically matched	20.42 kg complete	/	Training round matched to M393A2
M1008	NATO 105 mm L7/F1	105 mm	Illumination	/	11.7 kg complete	/	WP illumination projectile

[Thomas_Belgium]

Outstanding Bug reports:

• [Dev] Leopard 1A5BE missing Belgian M1001 APFSDS-T ammunition
• [Dev] Leopard 1A5BE missing Belgian M1010 HE ammunition
• [Dev] Leopard 1A5BE missing Belgian M1050 APFSDS-T ammunition
• [Dev] Leopard 1A5BE missing Belgian M1060 APFSDS-T ammunition
• [Dev] Leopard 1A5BE missing Belgian M1061 (M456A2) HEAT ammunition
• [Dev] Leopard 1A5BE missing Belgian M393A2 HESH ammunition

[BSpiel8-live]

Kind of related question, would any of these shells be possible for a future Leopard 1A5BE (MEXAS) or Leopard SCT? I don’t know the timeframe of the SCT’s full conversion to 1A5BE or the introduction of each the ammo types you show above, but I know the MEXAS prototype probably wouldn’t receive as advanced ammunition as a standard 1A5BE at the time of retirement right?

As someone in favor of full historical ammo loadouts I feel this would make all the Belgian Leopards feel significantly more unique if they are placed at a slightly higher BR than their German counterparts in exchange for some higher penning rounds.