Leopard 2 is a modern German main battle tank of the 3rd generation. The first prototypes of the car were made in 1973, and serial production, which began in 1979, continues to this day. To date (2018), 3,480 tanks of this type have been produced. The Leopard 2 is powered by an MTU MB 873 Ka 501 engine with a capacity of 1,500 horsepower. The machine is armed with one 120 mm Rheinmetall Rh-M-120 cannon and two 7.62 mm MG3 machine guns. The Leopard 2 was developed in response to the demand for a new main battle tank, announced by the Bundeswehr in the early 1960s. The new machine was supposed to replace the Leopard 1 tanks in the West German army. Initially, cooperation with American companies (for example, Chrysler) was carried out in a project called MBT-70. However, after a few years, the cooperation was terminated and further work was focused only on German companies. Despite the very long process of analytical, research and experimental work, which lasted almost 15 years, "Leopard-2", presented on the line in 1979, turned out to be revolutionary and surpassed the then Soviet developments. Many analysts consider it the first third-generation tank in history, including the M1 Abrams, the French Leclerc or the much later Russian T-90 tank. Leopard 2 is primarily characterized by unprecedented mobility and maneuverability for tanks of this class until 1979, thanks to the use of a powerful 1500 hp engine. It also has very good armor, using composites and a fire control system. It was also armed with the excellent Rh-M-120 gun, which became the standard for many NATO countries in the 1980s and 1990s. In the course of serial production, several modifications of the Leopard 2 tank were created, two of which deserve special attention: A 4 and A 6. A 4, which first appeared in 1985, has a very advanced and improved compared to previous versions of the SKO, and as well as an improved turret and hull frontal armor. . It is also the most widely exported version. At the beginning of the 21st century, the A 6 version was created, which mainly received the Rh-M-120 gun with a significantly elongated barrel (L / 55), which significantly increased its penetrating power. The latest version of the Leopard 2 tank development is the A 7 version, which entered service with the Bundeswehr in 2014. Due to its very high combat quality, the Leopard 2 was exported to many countries, including: Austria, Chile, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Spain, the Netherlands, Norway and Poland, which has 247 tanks of this type in the A4 and A5 versions.
