The Leopard 2’s stabilization system allows the main gun to remain oriented against a target even while the tank is maneuvering over rough terrain. Older tanks need to come to a halt to fire accurately at enemy targets, an action that collectively slows an attacking force’s momentum. The Rh-120 is highly accurate while shooting on the move due to a two-axis stabilization system that counteracts the tank’s movement against the position of the Rh-120 gun barrel. 30-06 rifle bullet, on the other hand, travels at just 3,000 feet per second.) According to Rheinmetall, a round fired by the Rh-120 gun is supersonic as it leaves the muzzle, traveling at up to 5,692 feet per second. This allows the tank to engage targets with high first-round hit accuracy, day or night, and even engage moving enemy targets through enemy smoke screens. It’s served by one of the most advanced fire-control systems in the world, with a ballistic computer, laser range finder, and thermal night vision that made it the equal of the American M1 Abrams. Getty ImagesĪ Rheinmetall Rh-120 120-millimeter smoothbore main gun comes equipped on the Leopard 2. The Heer operated an impressive 12 combat divisions, including five panzer (armored) and four panzergrenadier (mechanized infantry) divisions, as well as several reserve mechanized brigades, for a total of 5,135 tanks.Ī Leopard 2A5 fires its Rh-120 main gun during exercises in Bergen, Germany, 2014. While the United States for a time planned to offset Soviet superiority in tanks, aircraft, and manpower with nuclear weapons, West Germany’s policy was to build up a powerful land army to deter, and if necessary defeat, an invasion after all, if either side used nuclear weapons, they would almost certainly be used on German soil. West Germany was a frontline NATO state, facing down the numerically superior armies of the Warsaw Pact. West Germany established the Bundeswehr, or Federal Armed Forces, and under it, the Heer, or German Army.

At the time, Germany was split in two: West Germany, an ally of the United States and a member of NATO and East Germany, an ally of the Soviet Union and a member of the Warsaw Pact. In 1955, a decade after World War II, Germany reconstituted its armed forces. To understand what made the Leopard 2 the most popular tank in the world, we have to go back to the Cold War itself.

Dimensions of small military tanks