[Skybird]

Originally Posted by frinik

BTW are the Royal Australian Defence Forces going toupgrade to the Leopard 2 A5 or A6 tanks?

To my best knowledge the Australian army is one of the few customers who favoured the Abrams over the Leopard-2. It was said that there has been considerable political interference to make the decision like that. the are giving their Leopard-1s away for free if the receiver could legally claim some educative or history-preserving purpose: museums, public collections, etc.

The Leopard.Some would argue the best heavy tank?

At least it is by far the most successful. There are not many abrams customers worldwide, it has lost economic competitions against the modern Leopards most of the time. Which is the better tank? Hard to say, it depends much on the defence concept of the customer, I would say. The high fuel consummation is what makes the Abrams a logistcal nightmare for armies that do not rate top in logistic capabilities (and having the capacity to keep supply lines open at all cost). The Russians have abandoned their tank turbines, if I am not mistaken (the T-80 has had 1250 HP gas turbines, but the T-90 switched back to conventional engines again).

In Europe, the Leopard-2 is by far the dominant tank. Most NATO countries operate Leopards. where the Leopards have seen combat action (Afghanistan), customers tend to be extremely pleased (the Candians love the Leo2A6 they have leased, favouring them over 3rd generation Abrams).

Any discussion on "best tanks" necessarily must consider the Challenger-II as well, due to it's impressive defence kit. It's a very tough bug to crack. Also do not leave out the the Merkava-4, and the latest Russian tanks.

I personally favour the Leopard 2 over the Abrams - even more so since the latest German Tungsten SABOT rounds have reduced the gap to the higher penetration potential of the American DU rounds so much that DU rounds are no longer a decisive argument.

I just thought KnightsCross,have you heard of Steel Beasts Pro?
It's expensive @ $125 but the realism is way beyond anything on the tanksim market.
It is used by many countries to train real tank crews,but maybe I am telling you something you already know?

Around two years ago, when a major upgrade included several features and vehicles demanded by the Australians (who are a customer of SBP), the Australian defence ministry distributed copies of SBP to all members of their tank forces, for free.

If KnightsCross is in for reviving his experiences with M113 and Abrams and Leopard-1s, SBP is for him. The sim features several Australian types of vehicles, amongst them the Leopard-1AS and the Australian Lav-25, the M113 anyway. The M1A1 and several different Leopard-2s are there, too.