Turkey loses three leopard 2 - The first battle of the German tank becomes a disaster
December 15, 2016 16:22
Fight for Al-Bab in Syria
Turkey loses three leopard 2 - first battle of the German tank becomes a disaster
German tanks of the type Leopard 2A4 are to help the Turkish to drive the IS out of Al-Bab in Syria. This is the first big fight for the leopard, but in just two days three tanks were shot down.
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The screenshot shows how the rocket (red dot) approaches the two tanks.
© Youtube
The world looks to Aleppo, but also in other places in Syria heavy fighting takes place. In the desert town of Palmyra, the troops of Assad had to accept a defeat. (We reported:
The Fall of Palmyra - Putin's first major defeat in Syria ) by the world public scarcely noticed, is fought north of Aleppo to the city Al-Bab. Still the city is held by the terrorist group IS, Turkish troops and allied militia, however, try to take the city from three sides.
The Turkish troops of the operation "Euphrates Shield" meet with tough resistance of the Islamists. About 50 German tank type
Leopard 2A4 should help to break this resistance. To the classification: The Bundeswehr has a total of 300 combat tanks.
Al-Bab is the place where the Turkish army at the lowest after
Syria has advanced. The city is an ideal starting point for further offensives in the Syrian core area. In order to deny Turkey this jumpboard into the interior of the country, Kurdish fighters and troops from Assad also participate in the race to Al-Bab.
Hits and subsequent explosion of the rear Leopard 2.
© Youtube
The first battle of Leopard 2
Here the highly praised German tank rolls into battle for the first time. In Afghanistan, Canadian troops have already used the German tank, but there they have only been involved in smaller battles. Until the appearance of the Russian T-14 Armata, the Leopard 2 was liked to be the best tank in the world in German media. More alarming is his
performance on the battlefield . The IS claims to have shot down three leopard tanks in just two days. There is no official Turkish confirmation, but the fighters of the terrorist organization document their shootings with photos and videos. This shows that the 62-ton battle armor is an easy prey for anti-tank missiles. The first shot was made by an American TOW-2, the other two by Fagot or Kornet missiles of Russian design.
The recordings indicate that the anti-tank crews are better trained than the Turkish armor occupations. The Leopard 2 was developed for the classic tank battle of the cold war. Therefore, he received a particularly strong front armor. To keep the weight of the colossus under control was saved elsewhere. The weak point of Leopard 2 is the steep sides of the tower. And right there were
tanks opened fire.
Attack from a favorable shooting position
For this the tank commanders must have pushed forward too far. The fighters of the IS, on the other hand, must have held coldly in their position when the opponent threatened to cut them off. All three tanks have received impacts, in two cases the Leopard tanks exploded - there is no chance of survival for the crew.
As with firings of American Abrams tank (we reported:
Deadly missile strike - so vulnerable the heavy tanks are ) shows now also the Leopard 2, which can not match once fashionable but now obsolete antitank missiles. The Leopard 2A4 was built between 1985 and 1992. Without an appropriate upgrade, it must do without electronics to interfere with enemy rockets and without reactive armor. A reactive armor is to blow a hit at the last moment with an explosion. Also, the type of armor of the Leopard 2A4 is outdated.
If the Leopard 2A4 had actually been fired by rockets of the type 9K111 Fagot, they became victims of an older weapon. The by a wire guided missile is used since 1970 and is similar to the Milan of the
Bundeswehr .