Leopard 1A5NO2

Description

The Leopard 1A5NO2 is a premium rank Swedish medium tank with a battle rating of (AB), (RB), and (SB). It was introduced in Update "Drone Age".

General info

Survivability and armour

The Leopard 1A5NO prioritizes firepower and mobility over the survivability of the tank. The armour in the frontal arc is reliable against many of the autocannons found on IFVs at its BR, but occasional rounds can penetrate the turret ring. Side armour can be reliably penetrated by autocannon fire, thus it is vital to keep the front of the armour towards the enemy. Chemical and kinetic rounds from main battle tanks and other vehicles should have no problem to penetrate Leopards armour when they hit centre mass. Looking at the Leopard from the front, 3 out of 4 crew members sit in almost straight line on the left side of the tank, thus potentially allowing it to get knocked out by a well-placed shot. On top of that, Leopard's biggest ammo rack is located on the right side of the hull, protected only by a 70 mm thin frontal plate angled at 57°. Thus Leopard's hull presents a highly rewarding target and players must avoid getting shot in the hull at all costs. On the other hand, Leopard's height is just slightly taller than T-72 by a few centimetres, and the gun can be depressed to -9°, allowing Leopard 1A5 to fight well on uneven terrain.

Armour type:

Notes:

• Suspension wheels, tracks, and torsion bars are 20 mm thick.
• Belly armour is 35 mm thick in the front half and 10 mm in the rear half.

Mobility

Modifications and economy

Armaments

Main armament

The Leopard 1A5NO mounts a late-generation fully stabilised L7 cannon, which is pretty standard at this rank. It also has access to standard ammunition selection, though one thing to note is that it has the option to equip lethal DM33 rounds, which are the third best NATO rounds available for 105 mm guns (after M900 and DM63).

Ammunition

• DM12 HEATFS - Stock round. The HEAT round does not lose penetration over distance. Unlike kinetic penetrators, it has one downside: given that it is a chemical round, its fuse is highly sensitive. With the emergence of composite and reactive armour, it quickly becomes obsolete in the anti-tank role. Requires careful aiming to properly damage newer tanks, though it can hold its own while fighting older tanks, lighter vehicles and low-flying helicopters.
• DM512 HESH - This round was always plagued by a plethora of problems: low velocity, low penetration, inconsistent mechanics and sensitive fuse make this round gimmicky at best. That being said, with the overpressure mechanic, this round can be used in CQB against light vehicles with devastating effect.
• DM23 APFSDS - Available as a tier I modification, this round allows player to engage modern tanks more reliably, since it performs better against composite and reactive armour. Penetration is relatively below average when compared to rounds available to the Leopard 1A5's contemporaries, it should be used as a stop gap solution until the next round becomes available.
• DM33 APFSDS - Best round available to the Leopard 1A5 and third best NATO round available for 105 mm cannons. It allows player to engage most enemies at the Leopard 1A5's BR at any range reliably. With careful aiming, even higher BR vehicles are not safe. Player should be of note that this round can easily over penetrate light vehicles such as BMP-2 or SPAAGs, so aiming at vital components is preferred in order to create shrapnel necessary to destroy them.

Ammo racks

Machine guns

Usage in battles

Tactics:

With addition of laser range finder, more powerful round and thermal gunner optics, the Leopard 1A5NO can become a very potent sniper on open maps. Players should exploit the Leopard's mobility, low profile and handy gun depression to reach favourable hull down positions and start picking off targets. Entrenched sniping the Leopard 1A5 becomes a nightmare for enemy tanks trying to cross its sight line, as this playstyle allows players to negate their biggest weakness: the lack of armour. The Leopards can flank well, but as thermal sights and laser range finders are becoming more common at the Leopard's BR, one must adapt certain flanking tactics:

• First, players shouldn't move across an open field without cover unless they know for certain that there is no one watching or unless absolutely necessary.
• Second, players should utilize terrain as much as they can - after all, a thermal imager is just a filter for a camera, and can't highlight the thermal signature of something that can't be seen in the first place. Move below the horizon, try to put as much heavy foliage as you can between you and the suspected position of enemy tanks.
• Third, do not be afraid to stop when approaching suspected enemy positions, turn off your engine and listen. This allows you to detect enemy flankers in close proximity before they enter your field of vision, thus allowing you to avoid getting ambushed.

Sadly, while the Leopard 1A5NO performs great at longer ranges, its performance is below average on CQC maps with corridors and streets that do not allow to exploit the Leopard's mobility, like those found on Advance to Rhine. Due to lack of armour, IFVs with high rate of fire autocannons and more armoured tanks in general outperform Leopards by wide margin in these environments. A lone Leopard is expected to lose in most scenarios, thus players should focus on supporting their allies. Let them take a shot, and as soon as you see the enemy tank return fire, lunge forward and send the enemy back to the garage.

Pros and cons

Pros:

• Has access to the powerful DM33 APFSDS round
• Has access to generation 1 gunner thermals
• Excellent mobility
• Turret angles can occasionally cause shots to ricochet

Cons:

• Armour doesn't offer much against any kinetic rounds
• Low survivability
• Weak armour overall

History

Describe the history of the creation and combat usage of the vehicle in more detail than in the introduction. If the historical reference turns out to be too long, take it to a separate article, taking a link to the article about the vehicle and adding a block "/History" (example: https://wiki.warthunder.com/(Vehicle-name)/History) and add a link to it here using the main template. Be sure to reference text and sources by using <ref></ref>, as well as adding them at the end of the article with <references />. This section may also include the vehicle's dev blog entry (if applicable) and the in-game encyclopedia description (under === In-game description ===, also if applicable).

Media

Skins

• Skins and camouflages for the Leopard 1A5NO2 from live.warthunder.com.

Videos

See also

• Leopard 1 (Family)
  • Leopard 1A5
  • Leopard 1A5 (Italy)

External links

Paste links to sources and external resources, such as:

• topic on the official game forum;
• other literature.