Belgium announced on its intention to provide €1 billion in military aid to Ukraine this year. Perhaps the most interesting part of the new package is the prototype of the Leopard 1 tank with the Cockerill 3105 remote-controlled turret. If successfully tested in combat conditions, it could become the basis for a deep modernization of hundreds of outdated Leopard 1s that Ukraine previously received from its allies. We decided to take a closer look at the technical characteristics of the Belgian unmanned turret and see if its implementation can improve the combat effectiveness of «Leopards» of the previous generation.
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According to existing agreements, Ukraine is to receive nearly 200 Leopard 1A5 tanks from the allies, of which more than 100 have been delivered as of spring 2023, and 18 according to the latest report Oryx has been lost. At the same time, there are more than 2,000 A5 tanks in storage in Germany and Italy alone, 500 in Greece, 468 in the Netherlands, and 230 in Denmark. This far from complete list shows that NATO members can significantly increase their supplies of «Leopards», so it is worth taking a closer look at them.
The Leopard main battle tank entered service with the Bundeswehr in 1965 and was designed to combat the Soviet T-55 and T-62. In the mid-1980s, it was modernized to counter the newer T-64, T-72, and T-80, after which it received the 1A5 index. Combat power «Leopard» is provided by the 105-mm rifled L7A3 gun, capable of delivering precision firepower to targets at a range of up to 3 kilometers, depending on the type of ammunition.
There is no automatic loading mechanism, so the crew consists of four people: a mechanic-driver, a commander, a gunner, and a loader. The 830 hp engine combined with a hydromechanical transmission accelerates the 42-ton combat vehicle to 65 kilometers per hour, and the 985-liter fuel capacity allows it to travel 560 kilometers without refueling.
The Leopard 1A5 received a fire control system borrowed from the Leopard 2 with a stabilized main telescopic sight, laser rangefinder and thermal imager manufactured by Carl Zeiss. It also has a ballistic computer capable of taking into account the type of ammunition, air temperature, wind speed and atmospheric pressure during guidance. Another important update was the development of improved sub-caliber ammunition for the L7A3 gun.
Ukrainian tankers note Compared to the T-64 Leopard, it has better optics, a fire control system with a night sight, and a high reversing speed that allows it to quickly leave the battlefield. The power of the German tank’s 105-mm sub-caliber shells is sufficient to hit T-72 and T-90 in the frontal projection. At the same time, the armor protection of the Leopard 1 is completely insufficient in modern conditions.
In fact, the 70 mm thick armor with a 60° inclination in the frontal projection and 30-35 mm on the sides can only protect against Soviet 30 mm automatic guns and shell fragments. However, it is almost guaranteed to be breached if hit by an armor-piercing tank cannon shell or a grenade launcher’s ammunition. Therefore, Ukrainian engineers immediately began work on improving the crew’s protection. In particular, the resulting Leopard 1s were equipped with dynamic protection «Contact» and anti-cumulative screens.
In the search for new design solutions that could provide tanks with better protection, experiments with unmanned turrets began in the 1980s. At that stage of technological development, they did not leave the prototype stage. But recently, they have been attracting more and more attention from the world’s leading armies.
The main advantage of the unmanned turret is that the combat compartment with the gun and ammunition is located separately from the crew. And people in the armored capsule have a better chance of survival if the turret is hit. In addition, the remote-controlled turret provides for a high level of automation, which reduces the number of crew and the size of the turret while strengthening its armor.
The American company General Dynamics presented the Abrams X tank with an unmanned turret and artificial intelligence at the AUSA-2022 exhibition. According to information according to the manufacturer’s website, it has a reduced weight, a hybrid powerplant, an unmanned turret with automatic loading and a turret with a 30 mm Kongsberg cannon Protector RS6. The tank’s security is enhanced by the Israeli Trophy active defense system and laser warning sensors.
In 2024, information appeared about the latest development of the French-German defense company KNDS — Leopard 2A-RC 3.0, a promising tank. This innovative design boasts an extremely flat unmanned turret, an automatic loading system that allows for three shots in 10 seconds and improved crew protection in a compact armored compartment.
It is noteworthy that the Leopard 2A-RC 3.0 turret is adapted to mount advanced guns of various calibers: 120 mm, 130 mm or even 140 mm. In addition, the tank is equipped with a 30-mm remote-controlled turret to combat drones and short-range ground threats, as well as an additional anti-tank weapon with missiles capable of hitting targets beyond line of sight.
In the past, various options were considered to improve the combat capabilities of the widely used Leopard 1A5 tanks. All of them, including the integration of a new 120 mm gun, required numerous changes to the basic design. However, a few years ago, the Franco-Belgian defense company John Cockerill Defense offered a universal solution — a new tower that can be quickly and relatively easily mounted on the robust Leopard 1 chassis or other suitable platforms.
The old Leopard 1 turret accommodated all crew members except the driver: commander, gunner and loader. The new Cockerill 3105 turret has an automatic loading system with a 12-16 round magazine and is completely unmanned. The caliber of the gun remains 105 mm, but the gun itself has a new design with a higher initial velocity of shells and, accordingly, better effectiveness against armored targets.
The next-generation APFSDS-T (Armor Piercing Fin Stabilized, Discarding Sabot) kinetic energy projectile can penetrate more than 600 mm of rolled homogeneous armor. No less amazing are the characteristics of the gun with HEP (High-Explosive Plastic/Plasticized) ammunition, which was tested in the United States and allowed it to penetrate a 200 mm thick reinforced concrete wall.
In addition to 105 mm shells, the barrel can be used to launch a Ukrainian anti-tank guided missile «Falarik»missile, which the Ukrainian design bureau «Luch» specially developed for the same gun back in 2010. In tests in Scotland, two «Falarik» missiles launched from the Belgian CT-CV turret on the chassis of the «Piranha-3» armored personnel carrier accurately hit targets at a range of over 2,900 meters.
The space freed up in the turret made it possible to increase the gun’s vertical elevation angle to an exceptional 42 (!) degrees. This significantly expands its capabilities for firing from closed positions. The turret’s additional armament includes a 7.62 mm machine gun paired with the cannon and a remote-controlled turret that can be mounted with a 7.62 mm machine gun, a heavy 12.7 mm machine gun, or a 40 mm grenade launcher.
The turret is equipped with eight smoke ejectors, surveillance cameras with 360° viewing angles, and can be equipped with an active protection system (APS), sniper fire detection system, and laser warning detector (LWD). The crew commander and gunner are equipped with biaxially stabilized sights with day and night channels, and can use the «hunter-killer» function (while the crew commander searches for targets, the gunner can search and fire independently).
The turret armor has also changed. It is made of new, lighter materials. With the same level of ballistic protection, the tank is five tons lighter, which improves its mobility. In addition, the turret system is unmanned, so in the event of a hit, the crew’s health and life are less at risk than before.
Together with improved situational awareness of the crew, increased firepower and accuracy, this makes the Belgian proposal quite attractive. However, first, the Cockerill 3105 turret tests must show its effectiveness on the battlefield. And even then, the final decision will be made taking into account the cost of re-equipping hundreds of tanks in service in Ukraine.
Against this backdrop, the experience of operating the Cockerill 3105 in other armies around the world is of interest. So far, it is known that the Belgian turret is being used on a light Turkish tank Kaplan MT. It is in service with the Indonesian army (it has announced its intention to purchase up to 400 units) and is being tested in Brazil, whose military is choosing between the Turkish vehicle and developing its own main battle tank.