![]() ![]() These tanks were received directly from the German Bundeswehr since they, because of the treaty regarding reduction of arms in Europe, were forced to reduce the number of tanks in service. But in the end it was decided that the mechanized brigades were to receive the Leopard 2A4. A number of alternatives were considered, even the then most modern Russian tank, the T80U, was tested. These would replace the aging S-tanks (and Centurions) then in use. In addition to the Leopard 2A5 Improved S that are to be used by the armored brigades the Royal Swedish Army wanted to buy newer tanks to be used by the mechanized brigades. There are wagons from los.1 manufactured in 1977- and up to los 5. These wagons were in varying condition when they came here in 1994 and they are from different manufacturing series called "losung", and they therefore vary a little in appearance right from the start. The tank 121 is the Swedish name for the 160 used Leopard II which Sweden "borrowed" in connection with the deal with the new Leopards (st. ![]() The tank is in service with the armies of Austria, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Sweden and Spain. The first production Leopards were delivered to the German Army in 1979. The new main battle tank was developed by Krauss-Maffei AG, now Krauss-Maffei Wegmann (KMW), of München, Germany. During World War II, they played a prominent role across numerous battlefields.The Leopard II was developed in the seventies after the joint US/German effort to develop a new main battle tank, the MBT-70, was brought to a halt and the project cancelled. Tanks rapidly became an important military weapon. Further design improvements were made and at the Battle of Cambrai in November 1917, 400 Mark IV’s proved much more successful than the Mark I, capturing 8,000 enemy troops and 100 guns. Known as the Mark I, this first batch of tanks was hot, noisy and unwieldy and suffered mechanical malfunctions on the battlefield nevertheless, people realized the tank’s potential. By 1916, this armored vehicle was deemed ready for battle and made its debut at the First Battle of the Somme near Courcelette, France, on September 15 of that year. Following its underwhelming performance–it was slow, became overheated and couldn’t cross trenches–a second prototype, known as “Big Willie,” was produced. The first tank prototype, Little Willie, was unveiled in September 1915. Either way, the new vehicles were shipped in crates labeled “tank” and the name stuck. To keep the project secret from enemies, production workers were reportedly told the vehicles they were building would be used to carry water on the battlefield (alternate theories suggest the shells of the new vehicles resembled water tanks). The men appealed to British navy minister Winston Churchill, who believed in the concept of a “land boat” and organized a Landships Committee to begin developing a prototype. In 1914, a British army colonel named Ernest Swinton and William Hankey, secretary of the Committee for Imperial Defence, championed the idea of an armored vehicle with conveyor-belt-like tracks over its wheels that could break through enemy lines and traverse difficult territory. ![]() The British developed the tank in response to the trench warfare of World War I. However, improvements were made to the original prototype and tanks eventually transformed military battlefields. It weighed 14 tons, got stuck in trenches and crawled over rough terrain at only two miles per hour. Little Willie was far from an overnight success. On September 6, 1915, a prototype tank nicknamed Little Willie rolls off the assembly line in England. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |