A more mobile ‘big cat’
The Leopard is small and light, very different from the big German tanks of the Second World War. It first appeared in 1963, demonstrating that the German Army has changed its thinking, now believing that the mobility was more important than heavy armour and guns.
Brilliantly engineered, the Leopard is still being modified and improved today. It has been very successful on the export market. Almost every country that used the British Centurion, including Australia and Canada, replaced it with the Leopard.
The Tank Museum’s Leopard
The vehicle shown at the top of this article is a prototype Leopard, dating from 1963. It was used in trials to compare its performance with the Chieftain. Later it served as a test platform for a new gun.
