Multiple Rocket Launcher Duel : M-142 HIMARS vs ASTROS II

Lockheed Martin M-142 HIMARS and Avibras ASTROS II

 

 

For the uninitiated, these are multiple launch rocket artillery systems made by the USA and Brazil respectively. They have been exported to many other countries, including Malaysia ( ASTROS II ) in 2002 and Singapore ( M-142 HIMARS ) in 2009.

Malaysia became the second country in South East Asia to operate rocket artillery systems when it procured the ASTROS II. The honour of being the first goes to Thailand. By nature, rocket artillery are more suited for offensive operations rather than for defence. So it will not be easy to justify such a purchase unless your neighbour does it first. It came as no surprise therefore that once Malaysia has acquired that capability Singapore also ordered rocket artillery systems to boost the firepower of its Army. The US government would not have approved the sale if Singapore's neighbours had not acquired that capability first anyway, as they have always been reluctant to allow the introduction of a new capability into any region.

M-142 Himars at Bagram Air Field Afghanistan ready to execute fire support mission. Photo via wikicommons

HIMARS battery live firing exercise code named Ex. Daring Warrior
by 23rd Battalion Singapore Artillery at Fort Sill,
 Oklahoma, USA, Nov 2010 Source : MINDEF

 

A Brief History of the Rocket and the Multiple Rocket Launcher

Illustration of Korean Rocket Launcher of the 1500s ( source : Wikipedia )

 

Ever since its invention by the ancient Chinese scientists sometime around the 13th century, the rocket, in its various forms, had been deployed as a weapon of war. The Chinese and Koreans had their own primitive version of the multiple rocket launcher which fired one or two hundred blackpowder projectiles upon ignition. For centuries since then, the rocket had remained largely for ceremonial use in fireworks and such.

Dr. Robert H. Goddard and a liquid oxygen-gasoline rocket
in the frame from which it was fired on March 16, 1926,
 at Auburn, Massachusetts ( source : Wikipedia )

 

It was not until the 20th century that modern rocketry was founded, with the American scientist Robert Goddard attaching a supersonic nozzle to the combustion chamber of a liquid-fueled rocket engine, increasing the efficiency of the rocket engine from 2% to 64%. He was also the first to launch a liquid-fueled rocket in the year 1926.

 

Replica of A WWII German V-2 Missile ( source : Wikipedia )

 

Since then advancement in rocket science has been rapid and relentless. With World War II came the production of new weapons such as the anti-tank rockets, tank, truck or ship mounted multiple launch rocket systems, air-to-ground rockets, rocket powered fighter planes, and the V-1 and V-2 missiles.

Post World War Two saw the development of multi-staged rockets that would evolve into launch vehicles for nuclear weapons. Eventually, these ballistic missiles were modified to launch artificial satellites into earth orbit and beyond, leading ultimately to the moon landing in 1969 and allowing for unmanned exploration of the inner solar system.

Modern Rocket Artillery

 

The first iron-cased metal cylinder rocket artillery were developed by Tipu Sultan, the Indian-Muslim ruler of the Kingdom of Mysore, and his father Hyder Ali, in the 1780s. He successfully used these rockets against larger forces of the British East India Company during the Anglo-Mysore Wars. These Mysore rockets were more advanced than anything the British had at that time mainly because the iron tube that held the propellant powder allowed for a higher internal pressure to develop during combustion and achieve a higher thrust and therefore longer range.

The rocket was lashed with leather thongs to a long bamboo stick and had a range of perhaps three quarters of a mile ( 1.2km ). They were hurled into the air after being lighted or were allowed to skim along the surface of the dry ground. Although individually they were not in anyway accurate, their effect when deployed in mass numbers can still be devastating. They were particularly effective against the cavalry.

During the Battle of Seringapatam in 1792 and 1799, these iron rockets were used to considerable effect on the British. The eventual defeat of Tipu meant that the British captured a number of the rockets which deeply influenced subsequent rocket development, ultimately inspiring the Congreve Rocket which was used during the Napoleonic Wars, including the Battle of Waterloo, and other wars during the 19th century.



Russian Soldier Firing a Congreve Rocket. Source : Wikipedia

 

You can read about the fictionalised Battle of Seringapatam in Bernard Cornwell's Sharpe's Tiger : Richard Sharpe and the Siege of Seringapatam (1799) where a young British Redcoat by the name of Pte Richard Sharpe fought the Tippu Sultan Army and eventually killed Tippu and horded some of his treasures.

Cover art of Sharpe's Tiger by Bernard Cornwell.

German 15 cm Nebelwerfer 41 launcher while reloading, 1943. ( source : German Archives / Wikipedia )

 

During World War II, it was the Germans and the Russians who developed and deployed large numbers of rocket artillery. The Germans had the Nebelwerfer series of towed rocket artillery although some were self-propelled ( Panzerwerfer ) and the Russians had their Katyusha series which were usually vehicle mounted and therefore more mobile. The Americans and British were late to develop their rocket forces with the US Army eventually mounting rocket launchers on top of modified M-4 Sherman Tanks. These were known as the T-34 Calliope rocket tanks. The US Navy however, made extensive use of rockets fired from warships and landing crafts during the Pacific War to soften up Japanese-held islands before an amphibious landing.

 

The T-34 Calliope Rocket Tank of the US Army during WWII. Source : Wikipedia

 

Since World War II, having seen the destructive firepower of rockets deployed in masses on area targets and the terrifying psychological effects the rockets bring about on the enemy, many nations have developed their own rocket artillery systems.

The Avibras ASTROS II

Saudi Arabian Astros II SS-30 launch during Operation Desert Storm ( source : Wikipedia )

 

The ASTROS II ( Artillery SaTuration ROcket System ) is made by Avibras Aerospatial SA of Sao Paulo, Brazil. Avibras has been manufacturing MLRS since the 1960s. In the early eighties, a middle-eastern country, believed to be Iraq, requested Avibras to develop a mobile modular MLR system and the result was the ASTROS II. It was used against Iran during the 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq War. Currently it is in operation with the Brazilian Army, Saudi Arabian Defense Force, the Malaysian Army, and the defense forces of Bahrain, Qatar, Angola and soon Indonesia. The ASTROS II is a battle-proven system which was also deployed by the Saudi Arabians during the first Gulf War in 1991 and by Angola in their civil war against the UNITA forces.

The ASTROS II is basically a self-propelled multiple rocket launcher mounted on an all-terrain 6x6 wheeled vehicle. It features modular design and employs rockets with calibre ranging from 127mm to 300mm. It is usually deployed in batteries consisting of 6 launcher vehicles with 6 ammunition resupply vehicles and a radar equipped fire control vehicle, all mounted on the same Tectran 6x6 chassis. Each resupply truck carries 2 complete reloads.

Malaysia bought 18 ASTROS II launchers in 2002 and another 18 in 2007. This will enable it to form 6 batteries in total.

The trucks can reach a maximum speed of 90km/h on the road and 40km/h over rough terrain. They are largely unarmoured, therefore do not provide much protection against enemy fire. They also do not provide protection against nuclear, biological and chemical agents. A 0.5in heavy machine gun is mounted on the roof of the cab for self-protection. They are equipped with 6 smoke grenade launchers. The entire system is air-portable on the C-130 Hercules transport aircraft which the Royal Malaysian Air Force also operates.

Saudi Arabian ASTROS II with SS-30 multiple rocket systems
 on Tectran 6x6 AV-LMU trucks, 1992. Photo via Wikicommons

Saudi Arabian ASTROS II firing SS-30 rocket, 1992. Photo via Wikicommons

ASTROS II TECTRAN AV-UCF fire control vehicle, Saudi Arabia, 1992 Photo : wikicommons

The ASTROS II launcher is capable of firing rockets of different calibre with different warheads. The SS-30 variant consist of 127mm rockets packed 32 rounds to a launcher and has a range between 9km to 30km. The SS-40 variant is made up of 180mm rockets packed 16 rounds per launcher with a range of 15km to 35km. The SS-60 and SS-80 variants pack 4 300mm rockets per launcher and have ranges of up to 60km for the SS-60 and 90km for the SS-80.
The warhead options include the traditional high explosive - fragmentation warheads, cluster munitions with multiple dual purpose ( anti-personnel , anti-armour ) bomblets, high explosive white phosphorous incendiary warheads, smoke deploying and mine deploying warheads, runway denial warheads and also chemical warheads.

The M-270 MLRS and Lockheed Martin M-142 HIMARS

 

US Army M-270 MLRS

 

 

Lockheed Martin / Vought Systems M-270 MLRS

The M-270 MLRS is an armoured, self-propelled, fully-tracked multiple launch rocket artillery system that was designed in the late 70's and in service with the US Army and several of its NATO and non-NATO allies since the early 80's. Production had ceased since 2003 when the last batch had been produced for Egypt.

It fires 227mm guided or unguided rockets packed 6 to a pod, 2 pods to each launcher. It can also fire the long range ATACMS ( Army TACtical Missile System ) ballistic missile one to each pod. It is a versatile weapons platform designed to supplement traditional tube artillery by delivering massive volumes of firepower in a short span of time against high value, time sensitive enemy targets under all weather conditions across the entire depth of the tactical battlefield. Some of these targets include enemy forward air defences, armoured units, artillery placements and personnel.  

Effective as it is, the M-270 is rather heavy at close to 25 tons. It can only be air lifted by the C-5A Galaxy, the C-17A Globemaster or the C-141 Starlifter heavy transport. Hence the development of a lighter wheeled version - the M-142 HIMARS ( High Mobility Artillery Rocket System ).

Danish M-270 MLRS in the rain and mud, 2003. Photo via wikicommons.

British Army M-270 firing practice rounds at Otterburn 2015. Photo via wikicommons.

German M-270 MLRS firing in 2013. Photo via wikicommons.

Awesome South Korean Army 5th Artillery Brigade M-270 night firing. Photo via wikicommons.

Awesome South Korean Army 5th Artillery Brigade M-270 night firing. Photo via wikicommons.

 

US Army MLRS Logo

Lockheed Martin M-142 HIMARS

The M-142 HIMARS is essentially a M-270 Lite. It shares many commonalities with its heavier cousin, using the same command, control and communications system, fire control system and launcher module. It carries one instead of two launcher pods and at about 11 tons is only half as heavy as the M-270. It is transportable by the C-130 medium transport ( roll-on roll-off ) and can be operationally deployed within 10 mins of landing.



Soldiers from Charlie Battery, 3/27 Field Artillery Regiment out of Fort Bragg, N.C., get ready to aim their High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) as part of the Rapid Force Projection Initiative field experiment (RFPI). This experiment is being used to test new equipment and its usefulness with the light forces in the field. Photo : US DOD

Himars : Preparing a rocket pod for undocking. Photo via wikicommons

M-142 Himars at White Sands Missile Range, 2005. Photo : Wikicommons

 

 

Two US Marines Himars. Photo : Wikicommons



Himars firing : Second Platoon, Battery B, 5th Bn, 3rd Field Artillery Regiment
 at Yakima Training Centre, Washington State, 2009. Photo : Wikicommons

Tennessee Army National Guard 1/181st Field Artillery Battalion's
 Himars on ANG C-130 Hercules. Photo via Wikicommons

Himars of the 5th Battalion, 3rd Field Artillery Regiment loading onto
C-17 Globemaster Ex HI-RAIN 2014. Photo via wikicommons

 

It is mounted on a standard US Army Medium Tactical Vehicle which is actually a 6x6 all-wheel drive 5-ton truck and it can launch the entire Multiple Launch Rocket System Family of Munitions. Some of these include :

M26 Unguided 227mm rocket with 644 M77 DPICM* bomblets range up to 32km 

M26A1 Extended range with 518 M85 ( improved M77 ) bomblets range up to 45km

M30 GMRLS GPS guided rocket with 404 M85 submunitions range up to 60km

XM31 GMRLS guided rocket with unitary ( single warhead ) high explosive warhead range up to 70km

MGM-140 ATACMS precision tactical missile with up to 300km range

* DPICM = dual-purpose improved conventional munitions

 

The HIMARS has an armoured cabin and can travel at speeds of up to 94km/h on paved roads. It is usually operated by a crew of 3 but the automated fire control system can be managed by even a single crew member if necessary.

 The HIMARS is in service with the US Army, US Marines, UAE, Jordanian and Singapore Armed Forces. Singapore has acquired 18 launcher units with 32 XM31 unitary high explosive pods making the Singapore Armed Forces the first HIMARS operator outfitted entirely with GPS guided MLRS.

Himars of Delta Battery, 2nd Bn, 14th Marine Regiment
assigned to III Marine Expeditionary Force gets ready to fire
during Ex Ssang Yong 14, South Korea. Photo via Wikicommons

 

As above, Himars fires reduced range practice rounds. Photo via wikicommons

 

 

As above, the aftermath. Why you should avoid firing MLRS
 near vegetation and how every MLRS artillery corpsman
 had better be expert firefighters. Photo via wikicommons 

 

  

HIMARS vs ASTROS II

So in a head to head duel, which system will prevail?

There are plenty of similarities between the two MLRS. Some common features include :

Battle proven systems adopted by several countries

Wheeled chassis mounting for high mobility
Air portable by the C-130 Hercules / Embraer KC-390 or equivalent tactical transport planes
All-weather day and night capability
High volume of fire effective against area targets
Short ripple time reduces shoot to scoot interval

The ASTROS II's modular nature allows for rockets of different calibre to be deployed according to target type and range, in contrast to the HIMARS which fires rockets of fixed calibre, not counting the ATACM tactical missile.

The unmatched advantage of the M-142 HIMARS over the ASTROS II is the availability of GPS guided rockets. The GMLRS has a range of up to 70km and an improved version the GMLRS+ up to 120km. GPS guidance significantly increases the accuracy of the rocket and for the unitary version reduces collateral damage and civilian casualties. GMLRS has been nick named the 70km sniper for this long range precision capability.

At the end of the day, one must realise that the ASTROS II is an older system dating from 1983 and fires unguided rockets, though it is still a formidable artillery system at this day and age and should not be underestimated in anyway.

Until the ASTROS 2020 upgrade is completed and the system acquires the capability to fire the precision strike missile AV/MT-300 which has a range of 300km and a payload of 200kg not unlike the ATACM, I would consider the HIMARS a more advanced system.

Update

Seems like 2016 is upon us and the world has moved on. The Avibras ASTROS 2020, sometimes known as the ASTROS III, is now a reality with the Brazilian Army. Unless otherwise stated, all ASTROS 2020 photos below were taken in June 2014 by Jorge Cardoso via Wikicommons.



 




 

Malaysia's Submarine Woes



 

 

 

Malaysia's Scorpene SSK are also known as the Perdana Menteri ( Prime Minister ) class. Photo : LIMA 

 







 

 Keeping Up With The Joneses?

Ever since Singapore's acquisition of the Challenger-class ( Ex-Sjoormen-class SSK ) diesel-electric submarines from Sweden beginning in 1995, Malaysia has been dying to lay her hands on a couple of submarines too. It might have something to do with the fact that Malaysia does not want to be seen to be inferior in terms of military hardware and capability compared to her much much smaller but far richer neighbour Singapore. But really, to be beaten to anything by a tiny nation which one had evicted out of the Federation ( of Malaysia ) 45 years ago can be very hard to palate if not down right humiliating, especially with an ego as big as Malaysia's.

Need For Submarine

To be fair, Malaysia does have very long coastlines and many islands and maritime interests to patrol and protect. The Straits of Malacca on the west coast is one of the world's busiest sea lanes and a pirate hotspot. There are disputes with Indonesia over gas fields in the Anambas Islands and sovereign issues over the diving paradise Sipadan Island. Submarines will definitely be a valuable asset to any navy required to oversee all that territorial waters. In fact, one can argue that two submarines can hardly be considered adequate to patrol such a large expanse of ocean, even when manned by competent submariners.

Money, The Root Of All Evil

The main reason for the near decade delay in Malaysia's submarine buy was insufficient funds. Well, maybe I have to qualify by saying insufficient to pay for the arms and at the same time fill the pockets of middlemen, admirals and politicians. You see, Malaysia has one of the oddest way to purchase military weapons. It has to go through middlemen from state approved companies. These middlemen are usually good-for-nothing cronies of powerful politicians who earn millions of dollars in commission in each arms deal.

So instead of getting the best weapons platform for the country, the typical deal would go to the supplier would pays the most bribes.

The Scorpene Deal

The submarine contract was awarded in a non-competitive tender to DCNS of France in 2002, for two Scorpene diesel-electric submarines plus one refurbished Agosta-B submarine for training purposes. The total cost of the contract was estimated to be worth USD972 million or MYR3.68 billion ( MYR = Malaysian Ringgit ) . The boats were to be partially constructed by DCNS in France and partially by DCNS's now estranged Spanish partner Navantia.

From the Malaysian side, negotiations were made through a company known as Perimekar Sdn. Bhd., for which it was paid a commission of €114.96 million, approximately 11% of the purchase price of the submarines. Interestingly, this commission was paid by the buyer, the Malaysian government, and not the seller, DCNS/Navantia. Was the Defence Ministry so inept that it cannot even carry out a tender evaluation and perform its own negotiations??

Officially, the Defence Ministry stated that the money was paid to Perimekar Sdn. Bhd. for providing " support and coordinating services " over a period of 6 years. But what services can a civilian company provide that the Defence Ministry cannot provide for itself?

Now Perimekar, as far as anyone knew, is a subsidiary of another company KS Ombak Laut Sdn Bhd., which is wholly owned by a well connected political analyst Abdul Razak Baginda. In fact Baginda is a close friend ( read crony ) of the then Minister for Defence ( now Prime Minister cum Defence Minister ) Najib Razak. The problem was, both Perimekar and Ombak Laut do not seem to have any expertise in the area of defence equipment. So one wonders how on earth they could provide any form of support and coordination services to the Defence Ministry.




Malaysia's Scorpene submarine KD Tunku Abdul Razak arriving at the naval Base at Klang, 3rd Sep 2009. Source : Wikipedia.

More Scandals

To make matters worse, Abdul Razak Baginda was charged with abetting the murder of his assistant and lover, the French and Russian speaking Mongolian translator Altantuya Shaaribuu who was directly involved in the negotiations for the Scorpenes and the Sukhoi Su-30MKM multi-role fighters. Altantuya allegedly tried to blackmail Baginda for US$500000 but was murdered by members of the Police anti-terrorism special unit and her body was blown into bits by C-4 explosives, probably from the Police arsenal. Welcome to Bolehland, the country where the police can be instruments of murder and where the majority Bumiputera population needs and receives special privileges and protection from the minority races. The scandal itself can be the basis for many independent blog entries but I digress.

The Scorpene SSK

The Scorpene is a conventional diesel-electric hunter-killer submarine or SSK. Nuclear powered hunter-killers are designated SSN. It is a joint project by the French and Spaniards. It comes in three flavours - Basic, Basic-AIP and Compact. It can be fitted with the MESMA (Module d'Energie Sous-Marine Autonome ) air-independent propulsion system ( AIP ) to increase the underwater endurance of the submarine. The ones selected by Malaysia are the Basic versions and do not have air-independent propulsion technology incorporated in them. They are still quiet and capable contemporary designs despite the lack of AIP and are armed with 6 533mm bow torpedo tubes with 18 torpedoes or 30 mines and the submarine launched SM39 Exocet anti-ship missile.
According to Wikipedia, the MESMA system costs US$50-60 million each. Now if only the Malaysian politicians were an honest bunch and did not try to pocket the €114.96 million ( currently equivalent to US$158 million ), the Royal Malaysian Navy could have had 2 Scorpene Basic-AIPs PLUS a spare MESMA engine!!!!

Imagine what two new build AIP Scorpenes could do. They would probably thrash the 2 Singapore Navy rebuilds, the Archer Class AIP submarines. In case you did not know, the Archer Class of the RSN started life as the Vastergotland Class SSK of the Royal Swedish Navy. They were non-AIP and had to be literally cut into two and then lengthened mid-ship to accommodate the Stirling AIP engine during refurbishment. I am not even certain if the Singaporean submarines have the sub-Harpoon anti-ship missiles, but it is highly unlikely. But Nooooooooo .... 3 MESMA engines stolen from under the noses of the RMN, not a surprise at all after news broke out that 2 spare F-5 Tiger II jet engines worth RM50million each were smuggled out of a RMAF base and were sold to some South American Banana Republic now thought to be Uruguay.

From the pages of DCNS's Scorpene 2000 brochure.

Defects! Defects! Defects!

The first Scorpene, KD Tunku Abdul Rahman, was delivered to Malaysia in 2009. It has been reported that shortly after the welcoming ceremony at Port Klang on 3rd Sep 09, defects have already been discovered. Some of these have been played down by Royal Malaysian Navy Chief Tan Sri Abdul Aziz Jaafar as "teething problems" and included a defect in the submarine's Forward Sea Water Cooling System ( discovered on 17th Dec 09 ) and the High Pressure Air Blowing System ( detected on 17th Jan 10). Teething or not these defects have prevented the brand new submarine from diving for the past three months until they have been recently rectified by DCNS. They have forced the RMN to delay the tropical waters sea trials of KD Tunku Abdul Rahman which were originally scheduled to be completed in Jan 2010. This will also delay the achievement of IOC ( Initial Operational Capability ). DCNS even had to extend the warranty which was due to expire in Jan 2010 as a result. The delivery of the second Scorpene KD Tun Abdul Razak has also been postponed by a few months presumably as a result of the defects discovered in the first Scorpene.

Malaysia's Scorpene SSK underway. Source : LIMA

Lack Of Submarine Rescue Capability

In addition to all those high profile teething problems highlighted by the media, the RMN has another less obvious woe - lack of a submarine rescue vessel with a DSRV. DSRV is the abbreviation for Deep Submergence Rescue Vehicle - a sort of mini-submarine capable of docking with a downed submarine underwater and off-load the trapped sailors. The DSRV type vehicle is usually small and portable and can usually be air-lifted if necessary. They should be standard inventory for any modern Navy with a submarine force.

Typical of any Malaysian venture which tends to be executed without much careful long term planning or sensible calculations, the procurement of the most modern submarines came without the consideration for submarine rescue capabilities. Total cost of ownership? What's that? Economy of Scale?? Never heard before. Insurance ? Hedging?? For what Ahhh??

Maybe that was the real reason why the KD Tunku Abdul Raman cannot dive after just "teething problems" affecting the high pressure air blowing system - if the submarine cannot surface after a dive, the RMN will have no choice but to beg the RSN to save their submariners, since the RSN is the only regional navy with a submarine rescue ship and submersible rescue vehicle. Something which the Malaysians would loath to do. It is all about "Face".

Final Words

Malaysia finally acquired a modern submarine force, after a prolonged period of delay. However, the choice of the platform is less capable than what could have been possible if not for unscrupulous channeling of funds into the hands of private companies and individuals. The non-competitive nature of the tender could also mean that Malaysia probably paid much more for the submarines when it could have been cheaper in an open tender. The lack of Air-Independent Propulsion and Submarine Rescue Capabilities could well be the Achilles' Heel of Malaysia's Silent Service. The imminent introduction of RSN's Sikorsky S-70B anti-submarine helicopters onboard the RSS Formidable-class stealth frigates would make life even harder for the Malaysian submariners in the near future.

Malaysia's Scorpene SSK and the visiting Los Angeles-class nuclear submarine SSN-721 Jacksonville at Sepanggar Naval Base, Sabah, 2010. Photo : RMN / USN 

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