Description
The Leopard (or Leopard 1) is a main battle tank designed and produced by Porsche in West Germany that first entered service in 1965. Developed in an era when HEAT warheads were thought to make conventional heavy armour of limited value, the Leopard focused on firepower in the form of the German-built version of the British L7 105-mm gun, and improved cross-country performance that was unmatched by other designs of the era.
As a replacement for the Centurion Tank, Canada acquired 114 Leopard C1 tanks (equivalent to Leopard 1A3 with laser rangefinder) in 1978–79 for its Land Forces. Most of these tanks were stationed in Germany during the Cold War, with a few retained at Canadian Forces Base Gagetown, New Brunswick for training.
Starting in 1996, the 114 Leopard C1 tanks in service were due to be upgraded to the Leopard 1A5 standard (designated as the Leopard C2) at a cost of CA$139 million. The turrets of 123 surplus Leopard 1A5 tanks purchased from the German Defence Ministry were fitted into the existing hulls
The Leopard C2's turret was modified according to the Canadian Army's request, with new radios being installed, and new stowage containers being fitted to the rear of the turret. Aside from the requested add-ons, the biggest update for the Canadian Leopard tank fleet was the implementation of the Atlas-Elektronik EMES-18 Fire Control System module, which featured a similar computerized setup as the C1's SABCA FCS, a laser rangefinder, and thermal imager. Eighteen Leopard Crew Gunnery Trainers were also purchased at the same time.
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