Italian weapons decided to upgrade Leopard 1A5: Who turned out to be a customer

The Greek soldiers did not specify what they wished to improve in their tanks, but Polish experts recalled a similar case where Leonardo modernized the same Leopard 1A5 for Brazil only. In particular, Italian experts have replaced the original Leopard 1Arrrr Bash with HitFact MK II, which is used on Centauro Fire Support wheel. Moreover, the product has a versatility, as it can be installed on modern caterpillars and wheel platforms of different types.

There is also a chance that the Greek Armed Forces have been offered a narrower range of modernization, which covers only the fire management system and raising the level of situational crew awareness. The observers noted that the Greeks may need to replace many older components with newer counterparts to keep at least part of their park in working condition when most of the LEOPARD 1 spare parts are going to Ukraine.

"However, the installation of a new tower system will be a very expensive operation and will give little to solve the problem of insufficient level of protection Leopard 1 and lack the necessary spare parts for different systems of the machine," - experts emphasized. An alternative may be the purchase of new tanks, such as the same Leopards 2A6, or the modernization of part of the park of old tanks and ordering fewer new cars.

In conclusion, the observers noted that the Italian Leonardo was not the first company to propose to modernize. The Greek army received a similar proposal from the Belgian company John Cockerill. Belgian experts, in turn, proposed to replace the standard Leopard 1A5 tower with the Cockerill 3105 system, but the agreement did not take place, since significant refinements of the machine body were needed to install a new tower.