Leopard 1A5's surprising resilience against drone attacks
The war in Ukraine is severely testing all equipment and its modifications. Surprisingly, they can effectively protect even "paper" tanks like the Leopard 1A5. We delve into the secret behind their resilience.
Recently, a video surfaced online showing a Ukrainian Leopard 1A5 tank being struck by up to 12 FPV drones, with only the final impacts causing a fire. According to the Militarnyj portal, the crew's status remains unknown. However, in footage from the 12th FPV drone's camera, albeit of very poor quality, something that resembles one of the open hatches on the turret can be observed.
The absence of fire at this moment might suggest that at least part of the crew managed to evacuate. This is an impressive outcome for a tank whose armor is largely superficial. It is worth mentioning that the Ukrainians have significantly reinforced the tank against attacks from simple cumulative warheads commonly used in drones.
Leopard 1A5 endured several hits on the roof, front armor behind which the ammunition storage is located, and the rest in the engine section, which eventually immobilized the tank and started a fire.
Leopard 1A5 - a useful relic from Europe
Leopard 1A5 tanks are an upgraded version of a machine dating back to the 1960s. A key enhancement was the inclusion of the EMES 18 fire control system, which is an advancement of the EMES 15 system used in the initial Leopard 2 tanks.
The core of this system is a thermal imaging sight for the gunner, combined with a ballistic computer, significantly enhancing the capabilities to detect, identify, and accurately target enemies a few kilometres away, even at night or in bad weather.
On the downside, the tank has virtually no armor, as a maximum of 70 millimetres of armoured steel reinforced with Lexan panels (a type of polycarbonate) can, at best, protect against artillery fragments and certain automatic guns.
In light of this, the Ukrainians developed a modernization package involving reactive armor blocks like Kontakt-1 and "Knife" with layers of mesh spaced from the main armour to preemptively detonate cumulative warheads.
Improvised solution by Ukrainians — enough for Russian homemade weapons
The concept is essentially similar to Russian "armoured barns" that are outfitted with whatever materials are available. It's worth noting that popular PG-7VL grenades from RPG-7 grenade launchers, often mounted on FPV drones and capable of penetrating 500 millimetres of armoured steel, have a very limited range of effectiveness and the optimal burn-through effect is precisely 0.5 metres from the point of detonation.
If a grenade detonates, for instance, 70 centimetres from the armour on a mesh or other obstacle, the cumulative jet capable of penetrating 500 millimetres of armour won't damage the vehicle. Meanwhile, reactive armour disperses this jet with a shock wave and fragments. However, the armour on which the blocks are mounted must withstand the explosion of the cartridges containing, for example, Kontakt-1, which has about 250 grams of explosive material.
For basic PG-7VL grenades and similar devices, this offers effective protection. However, if FPV drones capable of carrying heavier dual-warhead grenades like PG-7VR appear, the protection becomes inadequate. In these cases, the first warhead breaches the obstacle, allowing the larger warhead to explode in ideal conditions.
