The almost unrecognizable appearance of the Ukrainian Army's Leopard 1A5 tanks

The Ukrainian Army is already known for the modifications it implements in the tanks it receives from Western countries.

The additions that the Ukrainian Army is putting on its Abrams tanks
The modifications that the Ukrainian Army is applying to its Leopard 2A4 tanks

We have already reviewed here the Ukrainian modifications to the German Leopard 2A4 and to the American M1A1 SA Abrams. A few days ago, Ukrainian media Suspilne Rivne published an interesting video in which Ukrainian tankers show modifications of their German Leopard 1A5, a model that is being delivered to Ukraine in large numbers by Germany, Denmark and the Netherlands: the current forecast is for the delivery of up to 195 units. The video is in Ukrainian, you can activate automatic subtitles in English in the bottom bar of the player (although the translation leaves much to be desired):

In the video, Ukrainian soldiers seem very happy with these old tanks, which have already been retired from service with most of their Western operators but which have better performance than their Soviet equivalents, the T-64 and T-72: In the video, Ukrainian soldiers highlight their greater speed and the considerably longer firing range of the main gun, the British Royal Ordnance L7A3 L/52 105 mm caliber, capable of hitting targets at a distance of 4 km. The conclusion of the Ukrainian military is that the T-64 and T-72 are like a Lada Zhiguli (the Soviet version of the Seat 124) and the Leopard 1A5 is like a Mercedes.

You can see some screenshots from the video here. As you can see, the Ukrainians have covered the most vulnerable parts of the tank with reactive armour blocks, specifically the sides and front of the hull and turret.

Here we can see the general appearance of a modified Leopard 1A5. I have been seeing images of this type of tank for many years and if I saw this one suddenly I would have a hard time recognizing it, if it were not for the characteristic shape of its gun.

Two images showing the reactive armour plates added to the turret. They have sufficiently protected the mobile section of the gun and the side parts most exposed to frontal fire. However, additional armour is missing from the top, which is very exposed to drone attacks.

In this image we can see the solution that the Ukrainians have implemented against drones: a deployable grill that folds down towards the back of the turret, as if it were the hood of a car.

In the following screenshot we can see the additional protections for the front of the chassis, in order to protect the driver from possible direct shots against this area. This image allows us to see that these are Kontakt-1 reactive armor blocks, a model of Soviet origin and created in 1982, which has been used in other tanks such as the T-55, the T-62, the T-64, the T-72 and the T-80. Ukraine also uses it in its Leopard 2 and Abrams.

Finally, a picture of this tank’s Achilles’ heel: its rear. As we can see, no reactive armour has been added to the rear of the turret or the rear of the hull, leaving these areas of the tank exposed to greater damage. Kontakt-1 blocks will be in limited supply in Ukraine and they have to prioritise their placement on the parts that will generally be most exposed in a frontal attack.