Singapore Set to Acquire Refurbished Leopard Tanks from Germany

Posted: 11 Dec 2006, 1600 hours (Time is GMT +8 hours)

The Singapore Ministry of Defence and the German Federal Ministry of Defence intend to agree upon the sale of Leopard 2A4 tanks from the German Armed Forces to the Singapore Armed Forces.

The acquisition package will consist of 66 refurbished Leopard 2A4 tanks together with 30 spare tanks and supporting equipment. Training on the Leopard tanks will be provided by the German Army.

This acquisition underscores the good defence relationship between Germany and Singapore.

Key Platform Capabilities

Protection. At 55.15 tons, the Leopard 2A4 tank features spaced multi-layered armour that offers protection against tank guns, armoured fighting vehicle (AFV) cannons and anti-tank weapons.

Mobility. The Leopard 2A4 tank is powered by the MTU MB 873 Ka-501 diesel engine that delivers 1500 hp, giving the tank one of the most favourable power-to-weight ratios in its class. The Leopard 2A4 has a top speed of 72km/h.

Lethality. The Leopard 2A4 is equipped with the 120mm, L44 smoothbore gun, which has the capability to defeat all other armour fighting vehicles.

Potential for Future Growth. The Leopard 2A4 configuration allows the flexibility for future growth. Hence, customised upgrades required for the operations in local environment and integration with other platforms and systems of the 3rd Generation SAF can be implemented at a later appropriate time.

Enhancement in Capability

The Leopard 2A4 surpasses the SM1 in protection and firepower. It is comparable to SM1 in mobility. As a replacement for some of the Army's SM1s, the introduction of the Leopard 2A4 represents a significant enhancement in the army's capability.

Specifications of the Leopard 2A4 and SM1 Tanks

Description

Leopard 2A4 SM1

Technical Data

Crew 4 3

Combat Weight 55.15 ton 17.2 ton

Ground Pressure 0.83 kg/cm2 0.88 kg/cm2

Ground Clearance 0.537 m 0.43 m

Dimensions
(L x W x H) 9.668 x 3.7 x 2.79 m 6.36 x 2.51 x 2.62 m

Main Armament 120mm smoothbore, L44 75mm, M50 Gun

Other Armament:1 x 7.62 mm coaxial MG
1 x 7.62 mm anti-aircraft MG
8 x 76 mm smoke launcher per side
1 x 7.62 mm coaxial
1 x 7.62 mm CMG
4 x 81 mm smoke launcher

Fire Control System
With stabilisation
thermal imager Non stabilised,image intensifier

Engine: MTU MB 873 Ka-501 diesel engine Detroit Diesel 6V52T

Power: 1500 hp 290 hp

Transmission: Renk HSWL 354 hydrokinetic
transmission ZF 5WG 180, Automatic

Performance Specifications

Power-to-weight: 27.2 hp/ton 16.86 hp/ton

Max road speed: 72 km/h 60 km/h

Max road range: 550 km 450 - 500 km

Vertical Obstacle: 1.1 m 0.65 m

Trench Clearance: 3 m 1.6 m

Gradient 60% 60%

Side Slope 30% 40%

Whoa, can Singapore's terrain handle Leopards? Will logistics work? The fuel, the bridges. Its grd pressure is lower, but will its size hamper movement?

refurbish? Is this second hand tanks or newly produced ones? Why would we want second hand tanks when I think the Army should have the capability to buy first hand weapons?

rhino123 said:

refurbish? Is this second hand tanks or newly produced ones? Why would we want second hand tanks when I think the Army should have the capability to buy first hand weapons?

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Why? German low mileage LeoII A4 is still more then capable design and you will get best tank in the region for only small fraction of founds required for new tank...

yeah no need for singapore to buy newly produced tank.these second hand tanks are enough to counter another countries' tanks in the region.malaysian will receive pt-91 maybe can be evenly match foe n indonesia only has pt-76 n scorpion tanks.well leopard armour is quit good enough..

rhino123 said:

refurbish? Is this second hand tanks or newly produced ones? Why would we want second hand tanks when I think the Army should have the capability to buy first hand weapons?

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It's Singapore's nature to always get what's have the biggest bang for buck, for the best solution. If it's for their defense sake, foreign political influence (corruptions) are minimum.

Buying capable second hand platforms, and upgrading them to hell, has been the republic's MO since 1980s. Fighters (F5es, super A4s etc), Subs, covettes, Tanks, APCs .. you name it. And also second hands goods are also usually of the shelves and readily available..

Actually, I believe the Leo2 purchase is a good buy both in technical sense and in strategic sense.
The Leo2 is a well-established tank that has served many armed forces on earth. Thus in thise sense, it meant that getting spares and equipments are widely available. It also meant that upgrade solutions to the Leo2 is also widely available, thus SG need not re-invent the wheel and create it's own upgrade solution. The Leo2 is sold as surplus, thus the cost will be cheaper than to buy a totally new yet capable tank. Besides, SG has a wide spectrum of Germany built equipment, thus getting the Leo2 is not new. Example is those MAN 5,7.5 tonnes trucks, Mercedes-Benz scout jeeps, bridging and flalil style mine-clearing vehicles. SG also have R&D relationship with Germany too, thus upgrading should not be an issue.
In another sense, the Leo2 is a good buy as the existing armoured vehicles in
SAF are getting too old. I believe they are meant to replace the Centurion MBT and not the AMX13-SM1. Even for the AMX13-SM1, no doubt it was upgraded once by Singapore Technologies with better diesel engines, rubber tracks and FCS....... due to it's age, it can hardly soldier on. Things are starting to fall apart and the vehicle can hardly keep up to the modern network centric warfare of the future. Furthermore, riding in one is a potential safety hazard and detrimental to one's psychological health. My Fren told me due to the AMX13 being top heavy, accidents happened in the past in which the tank commander is crushed alive when it turned over. The turret is the old WW2 style, thus you must crawl into the cramped compartments.I believe the replacement with a ST designed 120mm gun Light tank is still in it's final stages of development, soon it will be out.

Delphi84 said:

Actually, I believe the Leo2 purchase is a good buy both in technical sense and in strategic sense.
The Leo2 is a well-established tank that has served many armed forces on earth. Thus in thise sense, it meant that getting spares and equipments are widely available. It also meant that upgrade solutions to the Leo2 is also widely available, thus SG need not re-invent the wheel and create it's own upgrade solution. The Leo2 is sold as surplus, thus the cost will be cheaper than to buy a totally new yet capable tank. Besides, SG has a wide spectrum of Germany built equipment, thus getting the Leo2 is not new. Example is those MAN 5,7.5 tonnes trucks, Mercedes-Benz scout jeeps, bridging and flalil style mine-clearing vehicles. SG also have R&D relationship with Germany too, thus upgrading should not be an issue.
In another sense, the Leo2 is a good buy as the existing armoured vehicles in
SAF are getting too old. I believe they are meant to replace the Centurion MBT and not the AMX13-SM1. Even for the AMX13-SM1, no doubt it was upgraded once by Singapore Technologies with better diesel engines, rubber tracks and FCS....... due to it's age, it can hardly soldier on. Things are starting to fall apart and the vehicle can hardly keep up to the modern network centric warfare of the future. Furthermore, riding in one is a potential safety hazard and detrimental to one's psychological health. My Fren told me due to the AMX13 being top heavy, accidents happened in the past in which the tank commander is crushed alive when it turned over. The turret is the old WW2 style, thus you must crawl into the cramped compartments.I believe the replacement with a ST designed 120mm gun Light tank is still in it's final stages of development, soon it will be out.

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Yes, SG has an offensive doctrine which calls for breaking out off of the Island and attacking the enemy rather than being attacked and allowing urban fighting on the island itself. The Leopard is very useful for that purpose. It provides the heavy mailed fist needed to punch through enemy forces that would undoubtedly be highly concentrated around Singapore (Singapore has a small border area thus it is easy to concentrate lots of troops around it.) and thus you need to be able to smash through. The Leo is absolutely perfect for that. Fuel consumption and reliability don't matter so much if you only need to operate in that sort of a closed-in enviroment.

Finn McCool said:

Yes, SG has an offensive doctrine which calls for breaking out off of the Island and attacking the enemy rather than being attacked and allowing urban fighting on the island itself. The Leopard is very useful for that purpose. It provides the heavy mailed fist needed to punch through enemy forces that would undoubtedly be highly concentrated around Singapore (Singapore has a small border area thus it is easy to concentrate lots of troops around it.) and thus you need to be able to smash through. The Leo is absolutely perfect for that. Fuel consumption and reliability don't matter so much if you only need to operate in that sort of a closed-in enviroment.

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However we must look at the type of area we are in. Our neighbours had very dense forest, I don't think an MBT will move easily in this type of condition.

rhino123 said:

However we must look at the type of area we are in. Our neighbours had very dense forest, I don't think an MBT will move easily in this type of condition.

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well, mbt will not be used in the middle of jungle,it will be used through highways and support troops in urban warfare .how can it move in the middle of jungle..