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In response to emerging user requirements, Krauss-Maffei Wegmann (KMW) has developed the Leopard 2 Peace Support Operation (PSO), which is being shown for the first time at Eurosatory this year. While this has been developed as a private venture by a team headed by KMW, a number of Leopard 2 users have already been briefed on the vehicle. According to KMW, its modular design allows it to be tailored to specific users’ operational requirements.
The Rheinmetall 120mm smooth bore gun is retained but the standard armour piercing fin stabilised discarding sabot and high explosive anti-tank rounds are not optimised for urban operations. To meet this requirement, Rheinmetall has been developing a new high explosive 120mm round, which in its most sophisticated version, will be able to be programmed to explode above the target for maximum effect against dismounted or dug-in infantry.
The 7.62mm co-axial machine gun (MG) is retained but mounted on the roof is a remote controlled weapon station to provide close in protection. This could be armed with a 7.62mm or 12.7mm MG or a 40mm automatic grenade launcher, which would be operated under armour by the loader. The example shown at Eurosatory has a 12.7mm MG installed.
Traditionally the highest level of protection on almost all tanks has been over the frontal arc, but recent operational experience has shown that today, attack can come through full 360°. For this reason, the Leopard 2 PSO is fitted with additional roof armour, as well side skirts that extend further to the hull rear and down either side of the turret.
Mounted at the front of the hull is a hydraulically operated dozer blade that can be used to clear battlefield obstacles, such as roadblocks and barricades. The dozer blade is operated by the driver under full armour protection. The optics of the Leopard 2 PSO are protected so that they cannot be damaged by rocks and stones.The Leopard 2 PSO could also fitted with the new mine protection kit that has already been integrated into a batch of German and Swedish Leopard 2 MBT, providing the crew with a higher level of survivability. While the MBT could be built to this specification, it is envisioned that most users would convert existing vehicles to this configuration. This could also have a new all-electric gun control equipment, as well as an auxiliary power unit, which would allow all the subsystems to be run with the main 1,500hp MTU diesel engine switched off.