Leopard C1 turrets

[servicepub (RIP)]

Who can fill me in on the sale/trade/donation of C1 Leopard turrets to Australia? I remember seeing photos of the turrets somewhere.

[rob love]

Can't say about them going to Australia, but we had 3 turrets come here (and I heard 3 went to Wainwright) for targets on the range. We also had a hull show up last year for the same purpose.
I was talking with the one of the LCMMs a few years back and he mentioned that they bought the upgraded turrets from the Germans at a cost of $30,000 per tank with $10,000 refundable on return of the hulls. We kept the hulls because it was not economical to return them to Germany, and they were good for some spare parts.
I won't claim the numbers as gospel as it was 3 years back, but I think it was close to these figures.

[Tony Smith]

There were the remains of two Canadian Leopards in the Tenix yard at Bandiana. Immediately obvious with the different camo scheme and Low-vis Maple Leaf. Keith and I were itching to take pics, but were'nt allowed. But these were the remains of two whole tanks, not just the turrets. The tracks, power packs and much of the interior had been removed from them. How they got ther, we were'nt told.

[Keith Webb]

Originally posted by Tony Smith
There were the remains of two Canadian Leopards in the Tenix yard at Bandiana. Immediately obvious with the different camo scheme and Low-vis Maple Leaf. Keith and I were itching to take pics, but were'nt allowed. But these were the remains of two whole tanks, not just the turrets. The tracks, power packs and much of the interior had been removed from them. How they got ther, we were'nt told.

Yes, the lack of a camera was VERY frustrating! Perhaps we could send them back to the Canucks for restoration.

[Snowtractor]

Originally posted by Tony Smith
. How they got ther, we were'nt told.

I found this picture on an Area51 website...

[Snowtractor]

Here is a link to an interesting commentary on the phasing out of the Leopard in Canadian Forces.

http://www.sfu.ca/casr/id-fisher1-1.htm

keep following the links at the bottom of the page for more of the article.

Sean

[servicepub (RIP)]

Originally posted by Snowtractor
I found this picture on an Area51 website...

Ah yes, the rare Leopard-based Kangaroo.

[Snowtractor]

Actually I thought that is how they were smuggling the hulls in to Oz, but I can see the ongoing use for hybrids...

Any comments on the "Leopard urban fighting vehicle" mentioned in the article? Has flavours of the WWII Brumbar and even the Churchill AVRE in ways. The Brumbar came as a direct result to the German army experience in cities like Stalingrad, though that wasn't an issue by the time it made its appearance. I can see the wisdom in having the Leopard changed in to a modern day equivalent .
Sean

[Andrew Morrison]

In regard to the Canadian turrets in Australia, this comes second had from someone who was an army mechanic working on tanks in the Australian Armour.

Seems that a few years ago Canada reduced the number of tanks they wanted to keep in service. The turrets were purchased from these surplus tanks by Australia. They were then used as part of an upgrade programe that was being carried out at the time.

Part of the reason for the upgrade was that when operated in the tropics temperatures inside the tanks was constantly over 50 deg. The doctors said that you could not support life at these kind of temperatures. As they were moving half the tanks to just south of Darwin this was a problem that had to be fixed.

These are of course second hand stories that I am sure can be corrected by someone with a source closer to the decision makers.

[Phil Waterman]

Here is an shot of a training turret at Camp Borden Circa 1984