![]() ![]() Greece may transfer up to 100 Leopard 1A5 tanks to Germany for exchange, which will subsequently go to Ukraine. Their three main missions would be to provide covering fire in the attack, close defensive fires, and to lend density to the fires of the field artillery. They could deliver accurate, pinpoint fire on targets not suitable for normal, indirect fires. He envisioned these guns moving with the infantry in the assault waves of an attack, or located along the FEBA in a defena sive position. Manstein's solution was to adopt a "turretless tank†mounting a high powered artillery gun, capable of firing high explosive or solid shot ammunition. ![]() In 1935, Manstein had risked his career by arguing for the concept of an assault gun despite high level hostility to such an idea. Spare parts were already in the supply pipelines. Once in the field, existing repair and maintenance facilities could be used without further training or retooling. Both the gun and carriage were time-tested and “soldier-proofed†before they were adopted. Little time and money was wasted on research and development. First, they are cheap and easy to produce. The concept of placing infantry support/anti-tank weapons on obsolete tank hulls offered many advantages. Older tanks can destroy armored troop carriers, and control roads from troops and transports where tanks aren’t going to be encountered.įrom Manstein's controversial papers of the 1930's to modern times, the assault gun has proved itself to be both an effective and economical weapon. Older vehicles can serve as an infantry support vehicle with better armor than most IFVs, but not used as an MBT. Any tank is better than no tank, and in a reserve or defensive role that frees up Ukraine's more capable armoured units, then even older tanks could be quite useful. Usually it's the tank that sees first and shoots first that wins. The Leopard 1 would provide overmatch against most Russian infantry fighting vehicles and serve as an infantry support assault gun, but not as a tank destroyer. The obsolecent 105mm main gun is incapable of defeating the frontal armor of modern Russian tanks. The Leopard 1 is thin skinned, with armor initially designed to resist only 20mm projectiles. The Leopard 1 medium tank is the predecessor of the vastly improved Leopard 2 main battle tank, with which it shares a name and not much else. ![]()
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