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Leopard AS1 
Main Battle Tank

Part Two - MBT Variants

by Paul D. Handel

Introduction

The introduction of the Leopard AS 1 Main Battle Tank into service with the Royal Australian Armoured Corps in 1977 also saw the purchase of some training aids  and modification kits to allow the attachment of certain engineer devices to the tanks. This article will look at the variations based on the Leopard Main Battle Tank (MBT), and currently in use with the Australian Army.

Driver Training Cabin

In order to gain maximum training benefit from the tanks, three driver training cabins were purchased for use within the Armoured Centre, now known as the Mounted Combat Division.  These cabins replace the standard turret on a main battle tank.  The normal turret is removed and placed on a stand, and this combination can then be used to train commanders, gunners and loaders in turret drills.  In this way, two training aids are obtained for the price of one.  

The Driver Training Cabin comprises a cabin and ballast weight assembly which fits into the turret ring of a standard MBT.  It is a non-rotating unit.  A dummy gun barrel can be fitted to the front of the cabin, to allow drivers to get used to the overhang at the front of the tank.  The ballast weight is provided to allow the normal driving characteristics of an MBT to be maintained. ( This was a problem with the locally constructed Centurion Driver Training tanks – the removal of the turret without replacement of the weight made the chassis rather more lively than the normal tank. ) 

The cabin seats three personnel in comfortable high back seats with harnesses. The instructor sits at the centre front, with one student on each side of him and slightly to the rear.  The instructor has the ability to override the student driver using normal controls for steering braking and acceleration. A repeater instrument panel allows monitoring of the driver’s most important instruments – tachometer, speedometer, etc. 

The cabin is provided with glass panels all around, including two sliding windows. A rear lift - up glass doored hatch allows access to the cabin.  Windscreen wipers are fitted to the front window panel. 

With the Driver Training Turret fitted, the vehicle can still undertake fording operations to allow the student driver to practice the necessary steps required to prepare a tank for water entry. 

In Australian service, a tank fitted with this device is known as a “Cab Tank”. Only the Mounted Combat Division uses these units in Australia.  Sometimes the cabins are fitted to MBT Dozer tanks.

Dozer Attachment

The purchase of Leopard AS1 included a dozer attachment for the tank.  This had not been previously provided for Leopards, as the Leopard Armoured Engineer Vehicle, a comprehensively equipped vehicle similar in looks to the Armoured Recovery Vehicle (ARV), was used by most other armies.  The dozer attachment provided a blade, similar to that fitted to the ARV, to be fitted to an MBT with minimal work. Tanks when fitted with the dozer attachment are known as Medium Tank Dozer (MTD). 

The dozer attachment consists of the dozer blade with two push arms, two double-acting hydraulic cylinders and the bearing console  (a steel box-like unit) which has the necessary electrical and hydraulic elements to operate the blade.  The blade’s operation is simply up and down, without angling or other operations.   

The dozer attachment can be fitted to any MBT which has the necessary short rails welded to the lower glacis plate. Originally the electrical power connection was provided by the removal of one of the driver’s periscopes and connecting the power cable to the slave start receptacle box in the driver’s compartment.  With the purchase of mine clearing equipment and special interface kits, the connection is now via an armoured cover and control box assembly mounted on the left front of the upper hull. 

The attachment is fixed to the hull by placing the lower edge into the rails on the lower glacis plate and fixing the bearing console to the hull via the standard tank towing lugs on the upper glacis plate.  An access cover on the bearing console allows the checking of hydraulic oil levels and circuit breakers.  Special headlights are also fitted to the console, the tank’s standard lights being removed. 

The attachment weighs around 2100 kg, and provides a blade width of 3250 mm.  Raising and lowering of the blade takes about 10 seconds in each direction.  The blade has no levelling function, therefore its usefulness depends upon the skill of the operator.  The dozer is normally used for the construction of scrapes for tanks when  in defensive positions, or for the preparation of entry/exit points on rivers, or for assisting the preparation of a suitable location for a bridgelayer tank during gap crossing operations.

Mine Clearance Equipment

The original purchase of Leopard included an allowance for mine clearing tanks as part of the inventory, but suitable equipment was not available at the time.  In the early 1990s, an Australian team  inspected the Track Width Mine Ploughs and Mine Clearing Roller Systems with interface kits fitted to Canadian Leopard C1 tanks in Germany, and then a Track Width Mine Plough fitted to a Centurion of the Israeli Defence Force.  Following these inspections, the purchase of three Track Width Mine Ploughs and three Mine Clearing Roller Systems from Israel, and fifteen interface kits from Krauss Maffei in Germany was made.  The equipment entered service in 1993. 

Tanks fitted with mine clearing equipment are collectively designated Medium Tank Mine Clearer (MTMC). The roller and plough tanks operate in conjunction with each other. The Mine Clearing Roller System (MCRS) is designed to be used when the presence of a minefield is suspected, but its exact location is not known.  The rollers are used to “bump” the minefield and detonate mines on the edge of the minefield. When the presence of mines is confirmed by detonation, the tank with MCRS backs off and a tank equipped with Track Width Mine Ploughs (TWMPs) takes the lead and clears a lane through the minefield.

Track Width Mine Plough (TWMP)

The Track Width Mine Plough unit (TWMP) was designed and built by RAMTA, a division of Israel Aircraft Industries, and allows the clearance of anti- personnel and anti-tank mines from the path of the tank tracks. The plough action moves the mines aside without detonating them, and can be adjusted to give a clearance depth of 200, 250 or 300 mm. The TWMP clears a lane about one metre wide in front of each track, and there is an unploughed lane 1500 mm wide between the tracks.  In this uncleared area, the TWMP drags a “dog bone” which is used to detonate tilt rod mines. The total weight of the installed equipment is around 3 tonnes.   

The TWMP comprises a main frame, which is attached to the tank in a similar manner to the dozer attachment.  Push beams provide support to the ploughs, known as moldboards.   Skids are located on the push beams to regulate the plough depth. Lifting mechanisms allow the left and right moldboards to be raised and lowered independently. An electrical harness, feeding though the armoured conduit cover, connects with the control box in the driver’s compartment. This provides the driver with the means of operating the TWMP and also allows him to fire the quick disconnect cartridges, which allows the whole assembly to be jettisoned in case of damage. 

When originally purchased, the TWMPs were painted in Israeli sand colour, and some of the photos show this.  Interestingly, the RAMTA company is located at Beer-Sheva in Israel, better known in Australia as Beersheba, the location of the most famous of Light Horse actions during the First World War. 

One known experiment with the TWMP was soon after its introduction, when the Technical Squadron of 1^st Armoured Regiment constructed a device to fit the TWMP allowing the clearance  of scatterable mines.  Although tested at the then Armoured Centre, it is believed to have been a unit experiment only. Two TWMPs are in service with the 1^st Armoured Regiment and one with the Mounted Combat Division.

Mine Clearing Roller System (MCRS) 

The Mine Clearance Roller System comprises a set of two roller banks, attached to the front of an MBT, designed to detonate mines in the path of the tank tracks. It is manufactured by Urdan Industries Ltd of Israel. The design is very similar to former Soviet mine roller systems. 

Each roller bank rolls a width of approximately 1100 mm and there is an unrolled area of approximately 1500 mm between the rollers.  Mines buried up to 100mm deep can be exploded.  The total weight of the installed equipment is 9 tonnes. 

The MCRS comprises a number of assemblies.  An adaptor plate is mounted onto the hull of the tank in a similar way to the dozer and TWMP systems, using the hull rails and the towing lugs.  The adaptor plate mounts several brackets and tie rods. The roller bank push arms are attached to the adaptor plate brackets. The roller bank push arms have integral rubber buffers which allow deflection of the arms, via the pivot when attached to the brackets of the adaptor, which can rise and touch the adaptor during mine explosions.   

The roller bank assemblies have four cast steel rollers, the outside two of which are mounted on bearings, and the inside pair which have a larger internal diameter and are free to move around the axle shaft.  The roller bank is attached to a pusharm via chains and trunnions. 

Cable assemblies support the pusharms during normal travel and absorb some shock during mine explosions. A dog-bone assembly is hung between the two roller banks in order to detonate tilt rod mines. 

The MCRS is a large and cumbersome device when fitted to the Leopard, and makes driving and steering somewhat sluggish.  Their worth to mounted operations however, outweighs these factors, and their use by many armies around the world is proof of their effectiveness when dealing with minefields on the modern battlefield.

Acknowledgments

The author wishes to thank the officers and men of the (former) Armoured Centre and 1^st Armoured Regiment for their co-operation over the last twenty or so years.  Lieutenant Colonel Sam McPhee provided background details of the purchase of the mine clearing equipment and the photos of the Canadian and Israeli units in operation. Trooper David Gibson of the RAAC Museum clarified for me some of the details of the Driver Training Cabin from the user’s point of view.

LEOPARD AS1 VARIANTS
PHOTO ALBUM

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Article Text and Photographs Copyright © 2000 by Paul D. Handel
Page Created 25 August, 2001
Last Updated 05 June, 2001

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