Ukraine's Leopard 1 Tanks Are Unreliable. Why Not Convert Them Into Air-Defense Vehicles?
Kyiv reportedly is getting Skyranger air-defense turrets for some of its Leopard 1s.
Ukraine will acquire short-range air-defense vehicles that combine new Skyranger gun turrets and old Leopard 1 tank hulls, according to The Telegraph.
This hybrid vehicle is, in essence, a modern version of the Cold War-vintage Gepard air-defense vehicle, 67 of which Ukraine’s allies have pledged to the war effort.
It’s a smart move. Skyranger is a modern and popular turret. And Ukraine is getting around 200 Leopard 1s—many of which are still in overhaul in Germany for a want of scarce spare parts for their fire-controls and other systems.
German firm Rheinmetall manufactures the Skyranger turret and overhauls Ukraine’s Leopard 1s. With a little paperwork, the company could pop the turrets off a few dozen of the least reliable tanks and swap in Skyranger turrets, instead—all without depriving Ukraine of many, or any, Leopard 1s with actual combat potential.
Skyranger combines an armored turret with a short-range radar and a 35-millimeter or 30-millimeter auto-cannon firing as far as three miles, depending on the model. The turret weighs no more than 4.5 tons in its heaviest configuration.
It’s a plug-and-play system that works with an array of hulls, including those of various wheeled armored personnel carriers and also Leopard 2 tanks. British vehicle consultant Nicholas Drummond called the Skyranger-Leopard 2 combination “son of Gepard.” “An ideal air-defense system for armored infantry brigades.”
The Ukrainians are the first to order Skyranger turrets for older Leopard 1 hulls.
Short-range air-defense guns fell out of favor after the fall of the Soviet Union but have come back in vogue as Russia’s wider war on Ukraine grinds into its third year and both sides deploy tiny explosive drones—many tens of thousands of them a month.
An anti-aircraft missile is pricey overkill for a $500 drone. A vehicle firing inexpensive auto-cannon rounds is just the thing.
Ukraine’s 67 Gepards—sourced directly or indirectly from Germany, Jordan and Qatar—represent one of the biggest short-range air-defense forces in Europe. But the Gepards are stretched thin protecting Ukrainian cities, leaving few if any vehicles to cover combat brigades along the 700-mile front line of the wider war.
The Skyranger-Leopard 1 hybrids could begin to alleviate this air-defense shortfall.
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