Editing Leopard 1 (section)

=== Leopard 1A5 ===

In 1980, a research program was undertaken to investigate further improvements to the Leopard 1, stipulating the need for a new fire control system/ballistic computer and thermal camera for effective night and all-weather capabilities to effectively fight against the more sophisticated Soviet T-64B, T-72B and T-80B series of tanks. A crucial part of the upgrade was the introduction of more effective ammunition, including new [[Kinetic energy penetrator|APFSDS]] rounds. The decision was made to base the upgrade on earlier models which were no longer competitive. The resulting '''Leopard 1A5''' was a retrofit of 1,225 Leopard 1A1A1 vehicles from Bundeswehr stocks.

[[File:19 04 2022 - Ministro da Defesa prestigia celebração dos 374 anos do Exército (52017823580).jpg|thumb|The [[Brazilian Army]] Leopard 1A5 BR tank]]
After trials, the Krupp-[[Atlas Elektronik]] EMES 18 fire control system, which was developed from the EMES 15 used on the Leopard 2, was selected in December 1983. The large, box-like armoured enclosure for the EMES 18 primary sight was mounted on top of the turret, in front of the commander's hatch, and contained a fully stabilized (both in azimuth and elevation) head mirror which was used for the daylight vision channel (×12 magnification and 5° field of view), [[Nd:YAG laser|Nd:YAG]] laser rangefinder and a WBG-X thermal imager from [[Carl Zeiss AG|Carl Zeiss]]. The gunner would access both day and night channels from the primary sight via binocular eyepiece, in addition to his back-up telescopic daytime sight (the TZF 1A from previous models). The commander would receive imagery from the gunner's primary sight on his ocular by way of a light pipe. His station retained the panoramic periscope (improved model TRP 5A) and vision blocks, with the TRP sight and forward facing vision block raised to clear the EMES 18 sight housing. Both commander and gunner could control the turret traverse with hand controllers, but an override function was given to the commander. In a typical engagement scenario, the commander would identify the target and slew the turret to its azimuth, then hand the target over to the gunner. Using the primary sight, the gunner would aim at the target and lase it to obtain a range; tracking would be initiated (if the target was moving). The fire control computer would then take the manual (ammunition type, target speed – obtained from the horizontal turret traverse rate) and automatic inputs (vehicle cant correction from a vertical sensor, atmospheric conditions, powder temperature, altitude) and continuously compute superelevation and lead solutions for the main armament. Control signals were transmitted to the turret and main gun drives to align the plotted aiming mark with the main gun bore axis, without disturbing the line of sight. Once these were coincident, the gunner could fire. The fire control computer contained ballistic information for up to 7 different ammunition types. Upgraded tanks initially made use of the existing Cadillac-Gage stabilization system, but since 1988, all Leopard 1A5s were either built or retrofitted with a new SRK servo-hydraulic turret and gun control system. The bulbous, horizontally-opposed objective housings for the optical rangefinder were removed and their openings in the turret—sealed with armour plates.
Two new types of high performance kinetic energy APFSDS rounds were introduced for use in the Leopard 1A5: the DM23 (a variant of the Israeli M111 Hetz-6) and DM33 (Israeli M413 Hetz-7) rounds. One test vehicle was armed with the smoothbore 120&nbsp;mm main gun and all A5s are adapted to carry this weapon, but the concept did not proceed into production.

The running gear on these vehicles was improved with strengthened torsion bars and shock absorber mounts. Lifting hooks were welded to the hulls of early production vehicles which lacked them (first and second batches) and the driver's station received high pressure washers for his observation periscopes (later installed in most Leopard 1s in German service). A three-tone camouflage was also applied to all tanks undergoing the conversion to A5 standard.

The first modified vehicle was delivered in December 1986 and the conversion process ran until 2001 and 2002 which coincided with a reduction of armored forces in the Bundeswehr, resulting in fewer Leopard 1A5 tanks delivered than were originally authorized. Most of the Leopard 1A5 tanks delivered to the Bundeswehr were assigned to formations of the former [[National People's Army|East German army]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Lobitz |first1=Frank |title=The Leopard 1 MBT in German Army Service - Late Years |date=2006 |publisher=Verlag Jochen Vollert - Tankograd Publishing |location=Germany |page=6}}</ref> Leopard 1A5s which received new SEM 80/90 VHF radios in the late 1980s were designated '''Leopard 1A5A1'''.

Since then, almost all users of the Leopard 1 have applied similar changes to their own vehicles, and in most ways the 1A5 can be considered the "standard" Leopard 1 today.