Leopard 2 (PzBtl 123)

Description

The Leopard 2A4, Panzerbataillon 123 is a premium gift rank German medium tank with a battle rating of (AB), (RB), and (SB). It was introduced in Update "Danger Zone".

General info

Survivability and armour

Armour type:

• Rolled homogeneous armour (hull sides, rear, and roof, turret sides, rear, and roof)
• High hardness rolled armour (hull front, turret front, gun mantlet)
• Cast homogeneous armour (gun mantlet frame)
• Composite screen (front side skirts)
• Structural steel (rear side skirts)

Notes:

• Suspension wheels, tracks, and torsion bars are 20 mm thick.

Mobility

The mobility of this vehicle is very good. It can usually travel 48-64 km/h (30-40 mph) on level, flat ground and the down-slopes of hills. Otherwise, its mobility can range from 32-56 km/h (20-35 mph) on rough terrain and the up-slopes of hills. It can go approximately 20 MPH backwards. It is very manoeuvrable and can make sharp turns easily.

Modifications and economy

Armaments

Main armament

Ammunition

Ammo racks

Ammo racks of the Leopard 2A4 (identical)

Notes:

• Shells are modeled individually and disappear after having been shot or loaded.
• Rack 2 is a first stage ammo rack located within a blow-out containment
• It totals 15 shells and gets filled first when loading up the tank and emptied first when firing.
• If you pack 16 (+26) shells, it will keep the hull empty of ammo.
• Full reload speed will occur as long as shells are available in the ready rack 2. If the ready rack is empty, a penalty to reload speed will occur.
• Simply not firing when the gun is loaded will move ammo from rack 1 into rack 2. Firing will interrupt the restocking of the ready rack.

Machine guns

Usage in battles

Because the PzBtl 123 is fast, it is good for flanking attacks. If you can manage to get around the enemy undetected, then you can destroy them with your superior armament. Heavy tanks and any vehicle carrying APFSDS shells are a huge menace to the survivability of the vehicle. If you choose to go into frontal combat instead of flanking, you should pop out of cover, fire an APFSDS (DM23 is better than DM13) at an enemy tank's lower armour in the front, and then retreat to cover as quickly as possible. If you do not, a heavy tank may one shot you or a light tank could take out your driver, gunner and commander, and the loader. Be especially wary of other medium tanks that are also trying to flank your team, because chances are, they also have a 120 mm gun and can one shot you with a well placed round.

Pros and cons

Pros:

• Powerful 120 mm L/44 cannon
  • Good assortment of ammunition, especially DM23 APFSDS, for dealing with wide variety of enemy threats
  • High-velocity rounds coupled with good sight magnifications make long-range fighting viable
• Turret armour is sufficient for hull-down tactics and fighting style
• Blow out panels available if certain ammo racks are detonated
• Gunner thermal sights makes target acquisition easier
• Default camo netting can assist with concealment in realistic/simulator battles

Cons:

• Hull armour is weak and proves vulnerable against most enemy shells
• Weak points in turret (gun mantlet and gunner's optics) can cripple tank or entire crew quickly if enemy exploits them
• Crew arrangement means a frontal shot can potentially knock out driver, gunner and commander (3/4 crew members) with one shot
• If an APFSDS or HEATFS shell hits the inside of the track tread, the entire crew can be put out of commission very quickly
• Turret's strong points are still vulnerable to most top-ranking APFSDS shells available to the enemies
• Blow out panel-enabled ammo racks are small, carrying only 16 rounds
• Machine guns, both coaxial and pintle-mounted, are small calibre with restricted gun elevation that makes engaging and threatening air targets difficult

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 2 (PzBtl 123) from live.warthunder.com.

See also

Related development

• Leopard 2A4

External links

Paste links to sources and external resources, such as:

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