Just One More Loop : Can You Run 342km In 51 Hours?

 

Joshua Toh after completing 342km.
Photo : Singapore Army via FB

Just One More Loop. That's the slogan of Backyard Ultra, where competitors run loops of 6.706km on the hour with the winner being the last person who can still finish that extra lap after everyone else has given up or failed. 

In the Backyard Ultra World Team Championship event held concurrently in 37 countries on 15th Oct 2022, special forces officer Lieutenant Colonel Joshua Toh emerged the winner in the Singapore chapter of the race, after completing 51 laps in as many hours, for a mind boggling total distance of 342km. In the process he had also rewritten the national record which stood at 34 laps and his own previous personal record which was 23 laps.

Read on to find out why his feat was so remarkable.

Backyard Ultra World Team Championships Logo. Image : Backyard Ultra

Backyard Ultra

Ultra as in ultramarathon, defined as any running distance more than the standard marathon distance of 42.195km. The rules of Backyard Ultra are simple. Runners have to complete a 6.706km ( 4.167 mile ) loop within one hour and begin on the next lap at the start of the next hour. The runner who can outlast all other competitors with an extra lap will be declared the winner and all the other runners would be considered DNF ( Did Not Finish ). So essentially, this is a race without a definite finish line. How far the winner has to run depends on how far the next best runner can run. 

And why does each loop or yard measure exactly 6.706 km? It is because the original idea of the Backyard Ultra was to have runners complete 100 miles in 24 hours. That will be 4.167 miles or 6705.6 m every hour. Rounding up, we get the distance of 6.706 km per yard. It takes 7 yards to reach ultramarathon territory.

The Backyard Ultra World Team Championships did not take place in 2021 due to the Covid Pandemic but it is back in full swing this year. In all, 37 countries participated including Ukraine, Belgium, Finland, Japan, Singapore and even Malaysia. Notably absent were Russia and China, terrorists, cheats, liers and bullies which nobody would miss anyway.

The races were held in each individual country and had began concurrently on 15th Oct 2022. Each country would field a team comprising 15 of their best endurance runners and the team which accumulated the most yards would be the winner.

Joshua's Remarkable Feat

To achieve Joshua Toh's 342km in 51 hours is a Herculean task with many obstacles standing in the way. The runners would obviously have to be physically very fit in the first place.They have to constantly maintain proper nutrition and hydration while on the move. They would have to manage sleep deprivation as the race would likely last for at least 2 if not 3 days or longer. Then there would be climate and weather issues to contend with, especially in tropical Singapore where daytime temperatures can reach 90F or higher and relative humidity can be as high as 90% or above. Besides these, having the mental strength to self-motivate and run repeated loops of monotonous track is also a necessity.

Firstly, running speed. If you are required to complete a 6.706 km loop in an hour, you must achieve at least 7kmh or faster so that you can have some time for a short break before the start of the next loop. That may not sound like a big deal but I can tell you it is not easy because I have timed myself running 6.7km. It took me about 49 minutes, meaning I would have about 11 minutes to eat, drink, have a toilet break or just rest, until the next round begins. Repeat that 50 more times and you get the idea. In case you are wondering, I had just completed a 100km ultramarathon in Dorset ( D+2200m ) and a 75km ultra-trail in Salzburg ( D+4000m ) this summer.

Next, runners have to be constantly eating to fuel the run, about 300 calories worth of food every hour, in divided doses. Without the regular supply of food, the body would deplete its glycogen reserves within 2 or 3 hours and running speed will be greatly reduced ( hitting the wall ). Joshua would be eating during the short interval between the loops and perhaps also during the run itself. Some runners view an ultramarathon event as a grand eating contest and that has a lot of truth in it. He who eats the most ( and could digest it all ) wins! Fortunately, since the race tract is in the form of a loop, the logistics to supply the runners with food should be quite straight forward.

Joshua Toh and Deric Lau drenched in perspiration
at start of the 41st yard. Photo : Naresh kumar via FB

Maintaining adequate hydration is another crucial aspect of ultra-running. Dehydration of just 2% ( losing water equivalent to 2% of body weight ) can already cause a significant degradation of physical performance. In the hot and humid climate of Singapore, many runners are just drenched in sweat and all that water and mineral loss has to be replaced precisely. Again, a relatively short looped tract meant supplying iso-tonic drinks and water was less of a logistic problem and runners would not have to carry a hydration pack on their backs. 

30 year Climate Mean. Data : Meteorological Service Singapore

The climate was perhaps the most difficult to manage problem for the Singapore chapter of the Backyard Ultra Team Championships. Where as teams from temperate countries like the USA and Japan are currently enjoying the cool autumn temperatures with low humidity, tropical countries like Singapore and Malaysia are hot and humid year round. The daytime outdoor temperatures can be 90F or higher and coupled with the high relative humidity of 65% to 90% can cause heat cramps, heat stress or even heat stroke which can be potentially fatal. Apart from these, runners will also have to shield their eyes from the ultraviolet rays and protect themselves from sunburn. 

Cooling down with sponging. Photo : Singapore Army via FB

Then there is sleep deprivation to deal with. To run for 51 hours meant going without sleep for more than 2 days. That is really difficult even with the help of the strongest coffee or caffeine infused sports gel. I was struggling to keep myself awake after running for 20 hours at a 100 mile race which I DNF 2 years ago. This year the same thing happened in Dorset and I found myself periodically drifting towards the bush after running for about 18 hours and 90km. I was running / walking like a zombie! With fatigue setting in and the darkness surrounding everything except the tunnel of light from the headlamp, the pre-dawn hours were the hardest to stay awake!

In addition, Backyard Ultra is one where neither the duration nor distance is pre-determined and it is this type of race that requires the participant to have the strongest mental resilience to achieve success. How would you motivate youself to keep running, kilometre after kilometre, under the hot sun, in the driving rain, in the darkness of the night, with seemingly no end in sight. How would you force yourself to continue moving in the same boring endless loop repeatedly, for the nth time? This backyard ultra format is possibly the most punishing form of ultra-marathon, and possibly one with the highest percentage of DNFs. *

support crew at work : fan, wet towels, massage, fluids. 
Photo : Singapre Army FB

And finally, there is the stupendous amount of ground to cover in 2 or maybe 3 days, depending on how long your strongest opponent cum team mate could last. Imagine pounding the trail or road for more than 300km within less than 3 days, your muscles, bones, joints, tendons and ligaments would have to withstand the repeated impact of your feet striking the ground and that is not for the faint hearted. At a cadence of 180 steps per minute, assuming the average runner completes each yard in 45mins, Joshua Toh would have 180x45x51 or 413100 ground strikes running for 51 yards. Fortunately he seemed to have a large support crew who could tend to his sore calves in between running the loops. 342km is  equivalent to the distance between Tokyo and Nagoya or exactly twice the distance of Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc ( UTMB ) without the altitude gains.

World Team Championships 2022 rankings

Team SG

Achieving The Seemingly Impossible

At 45 years old LTC Joshua Toh is not exactly young, but endurance athletes tend to peak in their performance in the thirties or even forties, with experience being just as important as physical strength. He is a Singapore Armed Forces ( SAF ) officer with HQ Special Operations Task Force and he attributed a large part of his success to his military training and had this to say. " I strongly believe that training such as the SAF Ranger Course and Special Forces training have strengthened my resolve, mental resilience, and contributed towards my success in the race. This race is a combination of both physical fitness and mental resilience, the latter being much more crucial in this race as compared to a regular race". While one does not have to be a SEAL or equivalent to win the Backyard Ultra, it goes without saying that after surviving Hell Week, anything else can be possible! 

Helping him achieve the impossible was his training partner, team mate and competitor, fellow SAF reserve officer Major Deric Lau. Deric is 46 years old and completed 50 yards, pushing Joshua to keep on running that one extra loop. It can be said that without the assistance of Deric, Joshua probably would not have done 51 yards. Both deserve our greatest respect.

A jubilant Joshua Toh with fellow team mates and support crew
Photo : Singapore Army via FB

His team of support crew would have been crucial too, to give him the best chances of success in this race with no definite finish line. 

As the winner of the Singapore Backyard Ultra 2022, Joshua gets the chance to compete with elite runners from all over the world next year in the World Championships held in the USA. We wish him success.

Backyard Ultra's Official Teaser for World Team Championship 2022. You can also watch it here

* Footnote : This year 2 Belgians, Merijn Geerts and Ivo Steyaert, broke the magical ceiling of 100 yards and created a new world record of 101 yards ( yes, that's 4 days and 5 hours ) and ran an astounding 677km each. After that, they hugged and both refused to continue on the next yard though they could have. Since neither ran an extra lap more than the other, no winner was declared and both runners technically DNF! This created a very unfamiliar situation, where there were not one but two champions in a record breaking tie and both, together with every other runner in Team Belgium, DNF. And both will be invited to the 2023 World Championship. Go figure!

Singapore Army's HIMARS Featured In Lockheed Martin's Precision Strike Missile Animation

 

Singapore Army HIMARS 21641MID in LMC PrSM animation.

The actual Singapore HIMARS with registration number 21641MID.
Photo : HR586 Emergency Collection via FB

I am not sure how many people noticed this, but Lockheed Martin's concept video for its Precision Strike Missile ( PrSM ) actually featured a Singapore Army HIMARS launching two missiles at what seemed like a S-400 surface-to-air missile battery and a forward arming and refueling point. The dead giveaway is the M1140 truck's vehicle registration number 21641MID which is unique to military vehicles of the Singapore Armed Forces ( SAF ). It is truly befuddling why a US Army deep strike weapon system which is still under development should feature a launch vehicle belonging to a foreign nation. Did Singapore co-sponsor the PrSM program or did it request to buy the PrSM? It seems very unlikely but who knows? You can watch the video below or on Youtube here. Update 2 Jun 2022 : It seems that this video is no longer available on Youtube.

Precision Strike Missile

The PrSM has its origins in the US Army's Long Range Precision Fires Program. It is a next-generation, extended range, all-weather, surface-to-surface missile that will give the ground commander an enhanced capability to attack, neutralise, suppress and destroy critical and time-sensitive point and area targets. 

It is compatible with the M270 Multiple Launch Rocket System ( MRLS ) and the M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket System ( HIMARS ) family of launchers, complementing existing GPS guided rocket munitions and will ultimately replace the increasing obsolete MGM-140 ATACMS. 

It uses inertial navigation system with GPS for guidance and features insensitive munition propulsion system and payload. It adopts an open systems architecture and modular design for future growth. 

With an official range of 60 to 500+km, the PrSM almost doubles the 300km maximum range of the ATACMS. It is physically narrower and can be packed two to a pod, doubling the ATACMS loadout. Lockheed Martin has since 10th Dec 2019 successfully flight tested the PrSM a total of four times consecutively, with the most recent test on 12th May 2021 at the White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico, demonstrating a 400km range. It is expected to enter service in 2023 and achieve IOC in Q4FY2025.

PrSM Inaugural flight test 10th Dec 2019. 
Photo : LMC

Image : US Army Acquisition Support Center

PrSM Artist's Impression. Image : LMC

Implausible Scenarios

This promotional video is best taken with a huge pinch of salt since it is really just advertisement for Lockheed Martin Corporation ( LMC ) which is the prime contractor for PrSM. It also features another of its product the F-35 Lightning II. 

A pair of F-35 on a deep strike mission discovers a hostile surface-to-air missile ( SAM ) site and a forward arming and refueling point ( FARP ) and designates them as targets. Their coordinates are communicated to the Combat Air Operations Center ( CAOC ). In the true spirit of joint operations, instead of calling for more Air Force assets to attack these targets or diverting the F-35s to deal with them, CAOC sends the fire mission data to a field artillery brigade that is within range using AFATDS ( Advanced Field Artillery Tactical Data System ), the fire support command and control system used by both the US Army and Marine Corps.

As a result a single HIMARS bearing a Singapore vehicle registration number is dispatched and proceeds to launch two PrSM at the designated enemy targets, destroying both in no time with their accurate flight trajectory and their high performance pre-formed fragmentation warheads. 

The main target of the PrSM is a SAM site more than 500km away with what looks like the LEMZ 96L6E Cheese Board multimode acquisition radar for the S-400 Triumf ( NATO reporting name SA-21 Growler ) system, one of the most advanced long range air-defense system developed by Russia. It will be impossible for such valuable assets not to be guarded by a layered air-defense system which will include a tonne of short-range point defense like the Pantsir-S1. Indeed the video shows three domes representing the airspace protected by the hostile short, medium and long-range missiles of the SAM site. It will be totally unrealistic for a single precision strike missile to be able to penetrate a well defended SAM site without being first discovered and subsequently shot down. More likely salvos from multiple HIMARS will have to be launched against such protected sites to have even a remote chance of achieving a kill.

SAM Site 96L6E acquisition radar look-alike.

LEMZ 96L6E Cheese Board acquisition radar.
Photo : Globalsecurity.org

PrSM moments before detonation over what looks like
the 92N6E Grave Stone engagement radar.

PrSM warhead detonation with pre-formed fragments.

The same argument goes for the second target, a FARP which is usually located at or near the forward edge of the battle area to re-arm and refuel helicopters. Would the enemy be so silly to leave it unguarded?

And why would LMC feature a Singapore Army HIMARS in the animation? The SAF does have the HIMARS in its inventory and has recently placed an order for four F-35B stealth fighters but these are for deterrence and defensive purposes only. Singapore is a tiny nation in South-east Asia and cannot afford any armed conflict with its neighbors or any country. It will be very far fetched to imagine the Singapore Army aiding the US in attacking a foreign nation be it China, Russia or Turkey, all of which possess the S-400 SAM system. 

MID Vehicle Registration Number

 

   

All vehicles operated by the SAF are assigned a unique registration number comprising of usually a five digit number followed by a MID suffix, for example 33828MID. MID stands for Ministry of Interior and Defense and is truely a legacy of the past.

Immediately after Singapore gained independence in 1965, the Ministry of Interior and Defense was established and it was responsible for both the internal and external security of the young nation, controlling the Police Force as well as the SAF. It was only in 1970 that the Ministry of Interior and Defense was split into the Ministry of Defense ( MINDEF ) and the Ministry of Home Affairs ( MHA ). 

The MID vehicle number system dates from that era and is still in use for military vehicles today even though the Ministry of Interior and Defense is long gone. So armoured vehicles like tanks and infantry fighting vehicles, utility vehicles like trucks and jeeps, even motorcycles all bear this five digit MID vehicle registration number. The exception will be the limousines for receiving visiting dignitaries and staff cars assigned to high ranking commanders ( battalion commanders and above / commanding officers of ships ). These will have single, double or triple digit numbers followed by the MID suffix, for example 1 MID.

A truck and safety vehicle with typical SAF registration numbers.
Photo : Singapore Army via FB

Another SAF HIMARS on maneuver.
Photo : Singapore Army via FB

  

Just An Animation

The PrSM concept video is just an animation to showcase the potential of LMC's latest surface-to-surface missile. It may not necessarily stick to real world scenarios though it should have, in order to make it as realistic and convincing as it possible to woo prospective buyers. I must however add that the US government is probably the only prospective customer for now.

The inclusion of a foreign HIMARS in the video could be a simple mistake of the animators who might have just taken a photo of the launch vehicle from the internet without knowing that it does not belong to the US Army and copied it wholesale. The SAF's HIMARS are regularly deployed in the biennial Forging Sabre series of exercise with the US military in various locations including Arizona and Utah. So it may not be inconceivable that some could have been mistaken for those belonging to the US Army. You can see some of SAF's HIMARS in action ( 3:42 - 4:56 ) in the video below or here.

On a separate note, the PrSM is a missile system with a huge potential for growth. Unhindered by the 500km range limitation imposed by the now defunct Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, the US is free to develop, test and field a new generation of surface-to-surface missile as it desires. Already, there is talk about giving the PrSM what the US Army terms mid-range capability, defined as 1600km ( 1000 miles ) or more. So we can reasonably expect extended-range PrSM in the near future, just like the ER GMLRS.

The PrSM is currently able to strike only stationary or fixed targets but eventually new multi-mode seekers that can home in on the enemy's communications and radar emissions and perhaps infra-red signatures will be integrated to allow for striking moving targets such as ships at sea or maneuvering land units. The US Army had already began testing this advanced seeker since June 2020. When available this will make the PrSM a very powerful anti-access / area denial weapon for littoral and maritime environments especially in its extended-range iteration. 

Maybe in the foreseeable future, the PrSM might really find its way into the rocket pods of Singapore's HIMARS. Until then, the M30 / M31 GMLRS rockets will have to suffice.

From Singapore 70km GMLRS range covers most of southern Johor.

500km PrSM range covers most of West Malaysia and Sumatra

1600km ER PrSM covers half of South China Sea including the Spratly Islands

Singapore's Leopard 2A4 And The Great German Panzer Sale

 

 

 

Polish Leopard 2A4. Poland bought 128 Leopard 2A4 MBT
through the Great Panzer Sale in the mid-2000s.  Photo via Wikicommons.

A Brief History of the Tank : From Mark I to Leopard 2

The tank is a tracked, armoured fighting vehicle which was first used by the British during World War One. The year was 1916 and WWI had dragged into its third year. On the high seas, the Royal Navy has had some strategic success at the Battle of Jutland against the German Navy, though the threat of unrestricted submarine warfare was about to begin. On the aerial front, the Fokker Scourge which started in the previous year was largely over, thanks to the deployment of better Allied fighters and tactics. On land however, the initially dynamic nature of land combat had deteriorated into a stalemate of trench warfare, where barb wires, artillery and machine guns prevented any real advancement for both the Allied Armies and the German Army. Soldiers died by the thousands when attempting to cross no man's land between the opposing forces.

 

The World's first combat tank : The British Mark I " Male " Tank
with two 6 Pounder Guns at the Battle of the Somme 25th Sep 1916.
Photo : Imperial War Museum via Wikipaedia

 

 

 

In order to break this deadlock, the British Army introduced an armoured vehicle at the Battle of the Somme in Northern France. This tracked vehicle was supposed to be able to traverse over trenches and provide protection against small arms and shrapnel for its crew and the infantry that followed it behind. It was armed with machine guns and modified naval guns. To conceal its true identity as a new weapon from the Germans, it was designated as a special water carrier ( as in water tank ) and the name stuck.

Though the British were the first to deploy tanks, it was the Germans who perfected the art of armoured warfare in the next great war - World War Two. Then, the German panzers ( tanks ) played a crucial role in the Blitzkrieg or lightning war that saw tanks spearheading offensive ground campaigns. Large scale battles were fought in the deserts of North Africa and the Steppes of Russia. Throughout the war the German panzer evolved from the 5 tonne light tank to culminate in the 68 tonne monster Tiger II main battle tank ( MBT ). These fortunately did not come in sufficient numbers to alter the course of the war for the German Army.

 

 

Leopard 1 Main Battle Tank

Hellenic Army Leopard 1A5 in a 2009 photo. Wikicommons.

 

Following WWII, the West German Army deployed the M-47 and M-48 Patton medium tanks supplied by the United States of America. These were post WWII designs and were obsolete by the late fifties and a replacement was urgently needed to guard the flat plains of Germany from the armoured might of the Warsaw Pact lead by the Soviets. This modern tank design was supposed to weigh no more than 30 tonnes and must protect the crew from nuclear fallout and chemical contamination. Its main armament was to consist of a 105mm main gun, the NATO standard at the time. Attempts to produce a Euro-panzer with France and Italy failed and eventually the West German Army fielded the final design as the Leopard 1 MBT and series production began in 1965. A total of 6485 Leopard 1 tanks have been produced so far, including utility and anti-aircraft variants. They serve in the armies of 12 countries including Canada and Denmark.

 

Leopard 2A4 MBT with its characteristic vertically-faced turret armour
Photo Source : Krauss-Maffei Wegmann GmbH

 

The Leopard 2 Main Battle Tank

Austrian Leopard 2A4 in 2011. Photo : Wikicommons

Austrian Leopard 2A4 in 2011. Photo : Wikicommons

 

The Leopard 2 MBT started life in 1970 after the failed US-German MBT-70 collaboration. Lessons learnt from the 1973 Yom Kippur War meant that the use of space armour for better crew protection was needed and a bigger gun to match the 125mm smooth-bore gun of the Warsaw Pact was required. To accommodate these changes, the Leopard 2 was to be significantly heavier than the Leopard 1. An early prototype, the Leopard 2 Austere Version, was pitted against the M-1 Abrams prototype ( then called the XM-1 ) at the Aberdeen Proving Grounds of Maryland, USA and showed that the Leopard 2 AV was in many ways on par with the XM-1. It finally entered service with the German Army in 1979, at the height of the Cold War between NATO and the Warsaw Pact. Eventually, more than 3480 would be produced in several variants serving in countries including the Netherlands, Sweden and Switzerland.

 

The Reunification of East and West Germany and The End of the Cold War

Following the collapse of the Berlin Wall in 1989, the German reunification was formally concluded in 1990 and the end of the Cold War came shortly after. Suddenly many NATO ( and Warsaw Pact ) countries found that their arch enemies had disappeared almost overnight and found it difficult to justify the maintenance of huge military capabilities. Defense budgets had been slashed drastically and personnel had been demobilised across Europe.

The German Armed Forces suddenly found itself inundated with Eastern Bloc hardware ( inherited from the merger with the East German Armed Forces ) like the MiG 29 Fulcrum air superiority fighters and must have found it logistically difficult to integrate them with their existing hardware. The Fulcrum fleet was ultimately given to the Polish Air Force for a token one Euro a piece!

The post Cold War German Army was to be reduced to only a fraction of its former glory. Adopted in 2007, the Structure 2010 initiative will cut the number of main battle tanks from 2528 to only 350. The number of infantry fighting vehicles from 2077 to 410 and artillery from 1055 to 120. This generated lots of surplus advance land fighting hardware which could only benefit Germany's trusted allies as they were sold off at rock bottom prices in what was popularly known as the Great German Tank Fire Sale ( der grosse Deutsche Panzer Schlussverkauf ).





Leopard 2A6EX MBT. Note the angled turret armour and the longer L55 120mm
smoothbore gun. Photo : Krauss-Maffei Wegmann

 

As Germany retains its late variant Leopard 2s ( mainly the Leopard 2A5 and the 2A6s ), the older and comparatively less capable 2A4s are sold to countries like Chile, Singapore, Poland and Turkey, probably at less than a million dollar (USD) each. A new US or Western European main battle tank would probably set you back by USD 5 million a piece. So a second hand Kampfpanzer Leopard 2A4 represents an estimated 80% savings compared with buying new! This represented a unique opportunity for many countries to upgrade their MBT fleet to ultra-modern standards without incurring a huge fee. It has been said that at such fire sale prices, even less capable MBTs like the Russian T-72 and its derivatives do not make sense. It is prudent and shrewd purchases like these that help to limit Singapore's annual defense spending to be leveled at around 4.5% of GDP throughout recent years, although the Singapore government is prepared to spend up to 6% of GDP on defense.

 

The Armoured Fist of the Singapore Armed Forces

The Singapore Armed Forces operated a fleet of some 350 French AMX-13 light tanks spotting 75mm guns. These were originally designed to be air-portable for supporting paratroop operations. They have been in service with the Singapore Army since 1969 and had been extensively refurbished to the so called AMX-13 SM-1 standard by ST Kinetics, a local defence company back in 1988. They have more or less served their purpose over the past 40 years and have almost reached their end-of-life / end-of-type. It is the ageing AMX-13s that the Leopard 2A4 was supposed to replace, at least that was the official announcement by the MoD. However, although it has never been officially acknowledged, reports are rife that SAF had been operating the British made Centurion MBT for many years out of foreign bases. According to Wikipedia, Singapore had acquired a total of 63 Centurion Mk3 and Mk7 from India in 1975 and subsequently from Israel in 1993 & 94 as well. They have been upgraded with new guns and engines with the help of the Israelis and are known as the Tempest MBT.
 

The SAF was once the top operator by number of the French made AMX-13 light tank. Photo SAF

 

In acquiring the Leopard 2A4, the SAF gains a huge capability boost in a value for money deal. An initial 66 Leopard 2A4s were bought together with 30 as spares, and subsequently 36 more were added. These 102 Leopards will form the backbone of the 48 SAR ( 48th Battalion, Singapore Armoured Regiment ) based at Sungei Gedong Camp.

The 2A4s lack the up-armoured sloping turrets commonly seen in more advanced versions like the 2A5 and also sports a shorter version of the 120mm main gun but are still potent main battle tanks nonetheless.

Leopard 2A5 with angled arrow-shaped applique armour
 of the Bundeswehr maneuvering in 2010. Photo : Wikipedia

Here is a glance of the Leopard 2A4's characteristics and capabilities :

• Weight : 55 Tonnes
• Crew : 4
• Main Gun : Rheinmetall L44 120mm smoothbore gun
• Ammunition : DM-33KE ( APFSDS-T ) or DM-12 MZ ( HEAT-MP-T )
• Secondary Armament : 7.62mm Co-axial Machine Gun
• Secondary Armament : 7.62mm Anti-aircraft Machine Gun
• Smoke Launchers : 16 76mm Smoke Launchers
• Gun Control System : Fully Stabilised in Alt-Azimuth / Thermal Imager / Laser Range Finder
• Communications : Digital Radio / Networking Capabilities
• Armour : Spaced multi-layered Armour

High Explosive Anti-Tank Multi-Purpose (HEAT-MP ) are chemical energy rounds that utilise the chemical energy in explosives to form a penetrative jet of molten metal directed at the armour at hypersonic speeds.

Armour Piercing Fin Stabilised Discarding Sabot ( APFSDS ) are kinetic energy rounds that depend on the high velocity of a metal rod penetrator to punch through armour. DU or depleted uranium, with its high density, is commonly used to manufacture APFSDS penetrator rods. However, all German APFSDS round are non-DU, frequently using monobloc tungsten instead.

Loading the distinctively shaped anti-tank sabot rounds ( APFSDS )
onto a Leopard 2SG at Shoalwater Bay, Queensland, Australia,
 during Ex Wallaby 2015. Photo : SAF

Main Battle Tanks of Regional Countries

In April 2003 Malaysia signed a deal worth USD 375 million to purchase 48 PT-91M MBT from Poland. The package also includes 6 WZT-4 ARVs or armoured recovery vehicles, 5 PMC Leguan armoured vehicle-launched bridge, 3 MID-M engineering tanks and 1 SJ-09 driver training tank. These PT-91M "Pendekar" are new builds of extensively modernised Cold War Era Soviet T-72M1 MBT. They equip the 11th Regiment of the Royal Armoured Corps based in Gemas, a small town in the State of Negeri Sembilan in Peninsular Malaysia. It has a 125mm smoothbore gun, a dual-axis stabilised fire control system, composite armour, explosive reactive armour, laser warning system, upgraded engines and the works. If you do the sums, each tank cost about USD 6 million, maybe more when other "hidden costs", so commonly encountered in that country, are taken into consideration. At the end of the day, a modernised T-72 is still, a T-72! It is considered by many to be inferior to the Leopard 2.

Polish PT-91 Twardy from which Malaysia's PT-91M was derived in a 2009 Photo. Wikipedia.

According to Wikipedia, Thailand has 105 M-48 and 178 M-60A1 / A3 MBT. They are excellent for intimidating the civilians and for patrolling or blockading the streets as and when the need so frequently arises in Thailand. It had also acquired 300 Chinese Type 69II MBT in the 1990s. The Type 69s are basically Chinese upgraded versions of the Soviet T-55 MBT. They are reputed to be unreliable and of such poor quality that the Royal Thai Army had largely assigned them for training purposes or just put into storage. In 2011, an order for 49 Ukrainian T-84 Oplot-M MBT had been placed and up to 200 might be eventually procured. A small order for Chinese VT-4 MBT had also been placed with deliveries due end 2016.

Royal Thai Army M-60A1 MBT during Cobra Gold 2014. Photo : Wikipaedia

Indonesia was a late comer to the Panzer Fire Sale receiving their first Leopard 2A4s in Sep 2013. A total of 103 Leopard 2A4 had been taken up together with 4 Armour Recovery Vehicles, 3 Bridge Laying Tanks and 3 Armoured Engineering Vehicles for an estimated USD 287 million. A number of the 2A4s will be upgraded to the Leopard 2 Revolution standard by Rheinmetall.

Panzerschnellbrücke Leguan bridge laying tank based on the Leopard 2 chassis

The Australian Army used to deploy the Leopard AS1 MBT ( 1A4 ). In March 2004, the decision to purchase 59 US M1A1 Abrams MBT to replace the ageing Leopard AS1s was finalised. Deliveries were completed in 2007. 18 are based in Victoria where the School of Armour is and the rest, 41 in total, will be base in Darwin, Northern Territories. The M1A1 shares the same origins as the Leopard 2 ( the failed MBT-70 project ) and even mounts the same Rheinmetall 120mm smoothbore gun. It uses steel encased depleted uranium armour that has been said to deflect / bounce off Iraqi T-72 rounds fired at a range of 1000m during the last Gulf War. It is a formidable platform, even though it is not the latest M1A2 variant.

Australian Army Leopard AS1 ( 1A4 ) at
 Shoalwater Bay Training Area 2005. Wikipaedia

Australian Army M1A1 Abrams at Shoalwater Bay
Training Area during Talisman Sabre 2011. Wikipaedia

Future MBTs for Singapore's Armoured Forces

The Great German Tank Fire Sale was a once in a lifetime event unlikely to be repeated, too good an opportunity to be missed for many of Germany's allies to upgrade their armoured fleets. Germany stands to gain too, from the refurbishment contracts that are frequently awarded to German companies and from the training packages provided to foreign army personnel.

Perhaps in future, these Leopard 2A4s can be upgraded to the 2A6M standard, with a longer L55 gun that have a longer range and increased armour penetration, better armour and better protection against mines and improvised explosive devices ( IED ). The Canadian experience in Afghanistan clearly showed the importance of having mine protected MBT. The LAV III / Stryker Infantry Fighting Vehicles simply did not have the cross-country ability of the MBTs and nor the level of protection against IEDs and land mines. In Nov 2007 one of the Canadian ex-Bundeswehr Leopard 2A6M-CAN was attacked by the Taliban with a large booby trap / IED. The tank was damaged but the entire crew survived. The tank has since been repaired and was back in operations.

Krauss-Maffei Wegmann GmbH has also fielded a Leopard 2A6 PSO ( Peace Support Operations ) prototype for urban warfare. It has more effective all-around protection, better reconnaissance capabilities, non-lethal armaments, close-range surveillance capabilities through camera systems, a secondary weapons station ( remotely controlled ), a bulldozer blade, search lights and a shorter gun barrel ( obvious reasons ). This is similar to the M1A2 TUSK ( Tank Urban Survival Kit ) upgrade of the US Army. With SAF increasingly participating in international peace keeping operations and the highly urbanised city environment of Singapore, this PSO version may make sense.

Even further ahead, SAF may well develop its own unmanned ground vehicle. Time will tell.




Since 2010, Singapore's Leopard 2A4 MBTs had been upgraded
and are now known as the Leopard 2SG, seen here at
 the 3rd Division change of command ceremony 2016. Photo : SAF