Ref.: TAKO-2004
Main Battle Tank Leopard 1 A5/C2 2
The Leopard (or Leopard 1) is a main battle tank designed and produced 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. In 1980 a research program was undertaken to study further improvements to the Leopard 1, providing it with a completely modern fire control system and fully effective night/bad-weather vision system. This was going to require even more room than the larger turret from the 1A3/1A4 models, so the decision was made to base the upgrades on the earlier models which were no longer competitive. The resulting Leopard 1A5 was based on 1225 vehicles of the Leopard 1A1A1 model. The turrets were again modified for the 1A5, both in order to store all of the new equipment, as well as to move more of the ammunition into the rear turret, as opposed to the left side of the driver where it had traditionally been stored. The new turret was also able to mount the newer 120 mm gun from the Leopard 2 if desired, although this option has not been used. The first modified vehicle was delivered in early 1987. Since then almost all users of the Leopard 1 have also applied similar changes to their own vehicles, and in most ways the 1A5 can be considered the "standard" Leopard 1 today. For Canadian army 114 Leopard C2s (updated Leopard 1A5), reduced to 66 in the early 2000s were ordered. The Leopard C2 are likely to remain in active service until 2015. The 66 Leopard C2 are gradually replaced with the Leopard 2’s purchased from the Netherlands and Germany. This kit allow you to make a A5 or C2 tank. 1 Kosovo Sniper figure included.
