Krauss-Maffei Leopard 2

The Krauss-Maffei Leopard 2 is a main battle tank developed in West Germany in the 1970s. The tank first entered service in 1979 and succeeded the earlier Leopard 1 as the main battle tank of the German Army. Various versions have served in the armed forces of Germany and twelve other European countries, as well as several non-European nations. The Leopard 2 was used in Kosovo with the German Army and has also seen action in Afghanistan with the Danish and Canadian contributions to the International Security Assistance Force.

There are two main development batches of the tank, the original models up to Leopard 2A4, which have vertically faced turret armour, and the "improved" batch, namely the Leopard 2A5 and newer versions, which have angled arrow-shaped turret appliqué armour together with other improvements. All models feature digital fire control systems with laser rangefinders, a fully stabilized main gun and coaxial machine gun, and advanced night vision and sighting equipment (first vehicles used a low-light level TV system or LLLTV; thermal imaging was introduced later on). The tank has the ability to engage moving targets while moving over rough terrain.

Variants

 * Leopard 2
 * Leopard 2A1
 * Leopard 2A2
 * Leopard 2A3
 * Leopard 2A4
 * Pz87
 * Leopard 2A5
 * Leopard 2(S)
 * Leopard 2A5 DK
 * Leopard 2A6
 * Leopard 2A6CA
 * Leopard 2A6M
 * Leopard 2E
 * Leopard 2A7

Users

 * Austria
 * Austrian Army
 * Bulgaria
 * Bulgarian Army
 * Canada
 * Canadian Army (232 Leopard 2A6CA, upgraded ex-German Leopard 2A6)
 * Chile
 * Chilean Army
 * Czechia
 * Czechian Army
 * Denmark
 * Royal Danish Army
 * Finland
 * Finnish Army
 * Germany
 * German Army
 * Greece
 * Hellenic Army
 * Netherlands
 * Royal Netherlands Army
 * Norway
 * Royal Norwegian Army
 * Poland
 * Polish Army
 * Portugal
 * Portuguese Army
 * Qatar
 * Qatar Emiri Land Force
 * Singapore
 * Republic of Singapore Army
 * Spain
 * Spanish Army - see Leopard 2E
 * Sweden
 * Swedish Army - see Strv 122
 * Switzerland
 * Swiss Army
 * Turkey
 * Turkish Land Forces

Related Development

 * Krauss-Maffei Leopard 2E
 * Stridsvagn 122

Comparable Tanks

 * FV4030 Challenger 1
 * FV4034 Challenger 2
 * Lince tank
 * M1 Abrams
 * Type 90 Main Battle Tank
 * Type 10 Main Battle Tank
 * T-80
 * T-90