Are The Leopard Tank Beats The Abrams In The Export Market.

Are The Leopard Tank Beats The Abrams In The Export Market

ABRAMS M1A1 SEP V3 and LEOPARD 2A7. These two tanks are the best tanks in the world

With the dissolution of the Soviet Union, many countries that had stockpiled hundreds and thousands of military equipment suddenly found little justification for it. The Germans were left with an army too large for its uses and many left over high quality and newish tanks which they promptly offered to sell. The Germans took the newer uneeded vehicles and sold them at often lower prices and with very little or no conditions, with almost full technology transfer.

One of the moments when the Berlin Wall was demolished 

As well the Americans are known to be quite stingy about their technology transfer. So they selected to retain their tanks and the technology. They offered tanks for sale with a lot of conditions such as maintainence restrictions. Even their good friend Australia got a slightly down Abrams M1A1. The Australians seems to think that having parts commonality with the Americans is a good idea. Even if the tanks are more expensive and are less capable.

The germans do not impose you limits against whom you should use it whilst the Americans apply a policy of not letting you use it against certain of their Allies which is a huge problem for many countries. There are other Advantages :

Self-protection and the armor (Leopard 2A7/Abrams M1A2):

When you buy an Abrams, you don’t get the best of the Abrams, the state-of-the-art Abrams M1A2 SEPv3. All you will get is you get a M1A2S with no modern, heavy DU armor, no CREW Duke V3 counter remote-controlled IED (RCIED) electronic warfare system, no M829-series DU ammo, and no blue-force tracker.

Compare this to the export Leopard 2 models :

The Leopard 2A7 with extra modular armor "new nano-ceramics materials and modern titanium and steel alloys" you not even seen on German Leopard 2A7 tanks. A truly excellent vehicle. While with the Abrams you get an outdated and stripped down model, with the Leopard 2 you get the best of the best.

Secondly, let’s look at upgrade options. Say you have an older Leopard 2A4 and you want to upgrade for the capabilities Leopard 2A5 or Leopard 2A6. Or you buy a Leopard 2A4 now for a cheap price, and you thinking of improving it down the road or in the future. You have tons of options with the German tanks.

Well, On the other hand what about upgrading an Abrams with an after-market kit ?

Unfortunately, There are no such kits for the Abrams. If you want an improved tank, you basically have to ship your M1A1 to the US and pay a high fee for General Dynamics Land Systems to essentially take its turret off, strip its hull, and put an all-new M1A2 turret on (minus the DU and very expensive). Well, not hard to see why the Leopard 2 is a better choice on the export market.

 

Abrmas M1A2 SEP V3

Engine and mobility (Leopard 2A7/Abrams M1A2):

When it comes to fuel consumption which means that you need a huge supply line in order to keep the M1 Abrams moving. The Abrams M1A2 has a smaller operational range than the German tank Leopard 2A7 being respectively 425 km and 450 km, and the amount of fuel they need is respectively 1900 liters for the Abrmas M1A2 SEP V3 whilst the Leopard 2A7 only needs 1200 liters.

The Abrams tank has less range and more consumption that the german tank Leopard 2A7. It is clear that for less expenditure on the Leopard tanks you get more mileage and less fuel consumption. The German tank Leopard 2A7 it is more valued that consumes less (comparatively) than what an M1 Abrams does.

The engine is also very important, I think the Abrams M1A2 SEP V3 wins because it is a jet engine, like a plane, it is a turbine. It to make to move quickly in a short time. However it is harder to repair because of its complexity whilst the german engine, is just a diesel engine and most armies will be able to repair it.

The Leopard tank easier to perform repairs and operate, and more reliable not needing a large supply chain to operate it. More suited to urban combat and movement in Urban areas of Europe, Africa and Asia than the M1A2 Abrams is.

  

Leopard 2A7

Armament (Leopard tank/Abrams tank) :

The Leopard 2 has a better gun. The L/55 version of the Rheinmetall gun has superior penetration power to the L/44 version used by the M1 Abrams. The Leopard uses tungsten penetrators while the Abrams uses U238 penetrators. The difference between a U238 penetrator and a tungsten penetrator. The tungsten penetrator is supposed to have a 9% advantage over U238.

This is why German equipment is found much easier than American equipment asides from the cost.

The leopard tank is 100% german engineering. So, overall the German Leopard is a very attractive weapons system. It is no wonder that it beats the Abrams in the export market.