Now give it Ukrainian markings
I decided to give the Ukrainian markings to another re-turreted
Leopard 1
Chocolate, Cuckoo Clocks, and Smug NeutralityIn 2016, the Swiss federal defense firm RUAG purchased 96 ex-Esercito
Leopard 1A5 tanks. The Swiss intended to store these vehicles for parts or for future restoration for sale. Since an armoured vehicle storage site at Villesse in northern Italy had available space, the RUAG
Leopards were parked there. It was hoped that these tanks could be quickly refurnished and sold on to Brazil. But that didn't pan out. In early 2023, inquiries were made about transferring some or all of these vehicles to Ukraine. That move was blocked by the Swiss Federal Council in the name of 'neutrality'. But something had been overlooked.
Perhaps it was because the sold-off ex-Esercito tanks were (at least temporarily) staying on Italian territory. But, whatever the reason, officials at the
Agenzia italiana difesa - the MoD section responsible for disposals - neglected to file the appropriate export permits with the Italian licensing authority, Uama. Unfortunately for RUAG, permits for both sale and export of surplus Esercito equipment were mandatory under Italian law. As a result, RUAG could make no claim for a legal sale of these
Leopard 1A5s. Doubtless RUAG would be able to claw its money back but, without legal permits, the Swiss Federal Council had no further say in the transfer of these vehicles to Ukraine.
Leopardo 1A-120 - Leopard Update, Italian-StyleThis reversal for Switzerland's government presented Italian PM Giorgia Meloni with an opportunity at the the G7 summit in Borgo Egnazia. There, she announced that Italy would be reclaiming the 96 ex-Esercito
Leopard 1A5 tanks for refurbishment before sending them on to Ukraine. This allowed Meloni to distance herself and her
Fratelli d'Italia party from Putin supporters among Italy's other far-right parties. After a review of the state of the tanks, it was concluded that at least 50 could be restored to operational condition relatively quickly. Of the remaining 46 vehicles, 34 would be stripped for parts and scrapped. The other 12 would be fully modernized as
Leopardo 1A-120s.
The revised
Leopardo 1A-120s shared hulls with the
Leopard 1A5s already being shipped to Ukraine. But the turret was entirely new. This was the Leonardo DRS
Hitfact II turret armed with an Oto Melara 120/45 LRF (120mm L/45 Low-Recoil Fitting) smoothbore main gun. On the turret roof was mounted a Leonardo DRS
Hitrole L2R RWS armed with a 12.7 mm HMG. This main turret is the same as that on the wheeled
Centauro II MGS being built for the Esercito - indeed, Iveco's delays in hull production for the third tranche of MGS orders left some turrets surplus and available for the
Leopardo 1A-120 project.
While Leonardo DRS views the
Leopardo 1A-120 as a rolling advertisement for its
Hitfact II turret, the ZSU are grateful for another MBT armed with a main gun firing NATO 120 mm tank ammunition. The restored
Leopard 1A5 tanks would act as ZSU direct fire-support vehicles but the upgunned
Leopardo 1A-120s would be operated as Main Battle Tanks - albeit, at the more lightly armoured end of the MBT spectrum. The 12 x
Leopardo 1A-120 tanks began arriving at the Autumn of 2024. Within two weeks of deployment of the dozen
Leopardo 1A-120s near Kharkiv, Russian MoD spokespeople were announcing their confirmed destruction of "more than twenty of these new NATO tanks".