Post war, the fledgling West German Bundeswehr was recognised as a new member of NATO. To start with, the Bundeswehr were equipped with American tanks such as the M41 Walker-Bulldog light tank and the M47 Patton medium tank. The M48 Patton was to follow but, not content with these AFVs Germany pressed ahead in developing its own tank. Armed with a still potent 105mm gun from the British Centurion but now manufactured under licence by Rheinmetall and powered by a strong MTU engine the 42 ton tank was successfully sold to many countries becoming NATOs most prolific tank. Its weakness was armour protection which was, over the years addressed and upgraded this picture showing the Leo1 A5 but how effective the upgrades have been I can't comment. Hovering above providing distant observation is a BO105 helicopter.
Leopard 1 was born and, remained for years the Leopard 1 tank was a class leader in mobility. If you crewed a Leo 1, and would like the registration number and radio callsign number changing that can be done for you at no extra charge. Customers outside the UK please contact me for the price to include postage overseas.
