Turkey loses another fifteen tanks in Syria Leopard 2, destroyed by the forces of the Islamic State in the last siege of al-Bab. The city is just 15 miles south of the Turkish border. Ankara has made three serious mistakes: underestimating the enemy, overestimating its armored forces and, probably the worst, launching its own tanks without active and passive protection systems, without infantry cover on the flanks.
Thousands of Turkish soldiers have been massed since last September in an attempt to resume the city. In its offensive against the Islamic State in Syria, Ankara sent its main heavy tank, the backbone of the NATO armored forces. In reality, Ankara's actions should be seen as an attempt to avoid the unification of the two Kurdish enclaves.
In the latest offensive, Turkey has lost at least ten tanks Leopard 2. The forces barricaded on the outskirts of al-Bab (photo) used both anti-tank missiles TOW, an acronym of Tube-launched Optically-tracked Wire-guided of American manufacture that i Kornet Russians. Note the absence of US air support, repeatedly requested by Ankara, in the crucial phases of the offensive.
Purchased second-hand from Germany, the tanks Leopard 2 of Turkey represent Ankara's main armored force pending its entry into productionAltay.
Inspired by K2 Black Panther, the program Altay is an ambitious project for 1000 third generation heavy tanks, divided into four lots by 250 systems. The first batch of 250 Altay is in production and should be completed within the 2020.
The Aselsan, 30 last November, announced the signing of a contract with the Turkish government for the production of a system designed to protect tanks and armored vehicles from anti-tank missiles. baptized Akkor,Active Protection System has been specifically designed forAltay. The Turkish army has in inventory 720 tanks of German manufacture Leopard 1 / 2 (the latter of the A4 model). One hundred Leopard 2 and 300 M60 tanks from Ankara, will receive an update for an operation whose cost will exceed one billion dollars.
The Turkish Ministry of Defense, in addition to underestimating the threat, has forgotten the design history of the indestructible Leopard 2, specifically designed to counter Soviet armored forces in the plains of northern Germany.
Il Leopard 2 it was not designed for combat in an urban environment. The project is not spoiled but was determined by the awareness and the need for greater maneuverability in the field. To achieve an optimal combination, the designers made the armor on the sides and on the back of the vehicle lighter than other western tanks.
Underestimating the enemy, Ankara sent their own Leopard 2 without an explosive reactive shell and an active protection system such as the Defensive Aids System Shtora-1 of the Russian T-90 present in Syria. The militants of the Islamic State seem to have seized this vulnerability to attack the Leopard, focusing the fire on the hips. The narrow streets of al-Bab have effectively eliminated the initial tactical advantage of 60 ton tanks. The inevitable casualties on the ground forced the Turkish army to abandon the siege on the city.
Finally, forgetting one of the fundamental principles underlying the reference doctrine for modern mobile armored forces. The main heavy vehicle must never be conceived as an isolated weapon system, but inserted into a diversified mobile force. The fate of the Turkish tanks, without any protection on the flanks by the infantry, was already marked a few minutes after the start of the main offensive on al-Bab.
The point on German Leopard 2
The current ammunition of the German tanks, would not be able to produce enough kinetic energy to put out of use the latest version of the T-90 and T-80. Weapons and armor of the T-90 have been updated making the platform very different from that entered into service in the 1990. And this year the T-14 should come into service too Armata.
Due to defense cuts, Germany has 225 in service Leopard-2 (during the Cold War, the Germans had just underneath 2400 Leopard's inventory of all versions). The Ukrainian crisis, however, has sparked worries in the West so much that it pushed the German Defense Minister, Ursula von der Leyen, to order other 100 Leopard-2. In the Bundeswehr, therefore, will be serving 328 tanks. But the problem of the Leopard-2 is in their combat system. To be effective, Leopard bullets should be depleted uranium. However, from a political point of view this is now unacceptable.
Most of the German operational tanks are from the A-6 and A-5 series (picture on the right). About 100 Leopard-2 are from the A-4 series. The ammunition modernization will only take place starting from the 2017 and will concern only the A-7 series.
Currently, Germany has online 20 tanks Leopard-2 A-7.
(photo: Türk Silahlı Kuvvetleri / ASELSAN A.Ş. / Bundeswehr)
