Australia In 1974, the Australian government confirmed the purchase of the Leopard, with a total of 101 vehicles being acquired, consisting of 90 MBTs, five Bridgelayers and six ARVs. Two more ARVs were purchased later. The first Leopards arrived in Australia from West Germany in 1976, ending a selection and trial process against the US
M60 series that started in 1971, when the army decided it needed a replacement for its British
Centurions, which had served since 1952 and had been deployed during the
Vietnam War. In March 2004, the decision was made to replace the Leopard 1 with reconditioned US
M1A1 Abrams AIM. The first 18 of 59 M1A1 Abrams arrived in September 2006. The
M88A2 Hercules is concurrently replacing the Leopard family of support variants in Australian service. The Leopard 1 was operated by the
1st Armoured Regiment and was officially withdrawn from service in July 2007. Their guns were never fired in combat operations. Some of the retired tanks were offered to military museums or
RSL clubs.
Belgium The Belgian Army received 334
Leopard 1BE between 1968 and 1971. They equipped eight tank regiments, each equipped with 40 Leopards, and the Armour School. The first regiment to receive the Leopard was the
4th Lancers, followed by the 1st Lancers, 2nd Lancers, 3rd Lancers, 8th Lancers,
1st Guides, 2nd Guides and finally the
2nd Mounted Rifles. From 1974, they were modified with a gun stabilization system and an Automatic firing direction system (
Automatisch VuurLeidingsSysteem, AVLS) from
SABCA. This system allowed the gun to fire on the move. In 1984, the Army Command decided to upgrade 132 Leopard to the A5 standard as
Leopard 1A5(BE). At the end of the Cold War, there was a drastic cut in the number of tanks and 128 were sold to Brazil. The upgrade started in 1993 and was completed in 1997. The upgrade included a new gun firing direction system with thermal imaging, a laser rangefinder and a muzzle reference system. At that time, four regiments were still equipped with the Leopard 1A5(BE). At the end of the 1990s, the remaining four regiments amalgamated into two tank regiments, the
1st/3rd Lancers and the 2nd/4th Lancers. In 2010, the 2nd/4th Lancers was disbanded. Around 40 Leopard 1A5(BE) were kept operational in the 1st/3rd Lancers and
Carabiniers Prins Boudewijn – Grenadiers. The 1st/3rd Lancers is no longer a tank regiment, but a medium infantry battalion, identical to the rest of the medium infantry battalions of the Belgian Army except for having a single squadron of Leopard 1A5(BE). Belgian Leopards have served in Kosovo. In 2014, following the government's decision to replace all Land Component tracked vehicles (Leopards, AIFV, and M113) with
PIRANHA DF90s, Belgian Leopards were retired from service with most tanks being put on display, used for target practice, or sold inoperable to a
Belgian company. During
Eurosatory 2022,
John Cockerill offered the
Cockerill Medium Tank 3105 upgrade package for Leopard 1 tanks. The prototype for the upgrade integrated the hull of the Leopard 1A5(BE) with a Cockerill 3105 turret. The only modification to the hull is the installation of an adaptor ring for the new turret and an electronic cable. The turret is armed with a 105 mm Cockerill 105HP with a 12-round autoloader and a 7.62 mm coaxial machine gun, with both thermal and day sights. The installation of the new turret reduces the tank's weight by 5 tonnes and the tank crew to 3 personnel. The prototype was converted at the John Cockerill facility in
Aubange and underwent firing tests at the
Suippes military base in March 2022. The Belgian Army also had the following variants: • 36 armoured recovery vehicles (ARV – TRV) • 17 Pioneer tanks (armoured engineers) • 55 Gepard anti-aircraft tanks (withdrawn from service) • 12 driving school tanks • 9 Leguan AVLB (armoured vehicle-launched bridge) Belgium sold its last 50 Leopard 1A5BE tanks to OIP Land Systems in 2014 for roughly €37,000 each. In January 2023 the government sought to buy these back to give to Ukraine, however the purchase was delayed over a disagreement on price, with OIP wanting around €500,000 each to cover the cost to refurbish them to battle-ready condition. All 50 were subsequently purchased by Rheinmetall, with 30 to be refurbished and 20 used for spare parts.
Canada 1977. As a replacement for the Centurion, Canada acquired 114
Leopard C1 tanks (equivalent to Leopard 1A3 with laser rangefinder) in 1978 and 1979 for its
Land Forces. Most of these tanks were stationed in West Germany during the Cold War, with a few retained at
Canadian Forces Base Gagetown, New Brunswick for training. In 1976, prior to delivery of these new Leopards, the Canadian government leased 35 Leopard 1A2 tanks from the contractor in order to begin training crews from the
4 Canadian Mechanized Brigade Group (4CMBG) based in West Germany. These tanks equipped the Royal Canadian Dragoons (RCD) that competed against other NATO tank crews and won the
Canadian Army Tank competition in 1977. and 21 used as hard targets on ranges. Canada sent a
squadron of Lord Strathcona's Horse to Afghanistan in late 2006, equipped with 17 Leopard C2 tanks with the MEXAS add-on armour, as well as four recovery vehicles and four engineering vehicles. The armoured squadron was intended to provide convoy protection, supporting Canada's Provincial Reconstruction Teams and other organizations equipped with lighter vehicles, and combat operations. The first tanks arrived in Kandahar in mid-October 2006. On 2 December 2006, the Leopards stationed in Kandahar entered the field, marking the first time since the Korean War that a Canadian armoured squadron had sent tanks into an active war zone. They fired their guns in combat for the first time in as many years the following day, in response to a
Taliban rocket attack. The deployed tank squadron was in combat operations from late 2006 until July 2011. The first squadron deployed with C2 MEXAS. In mid July 2007, a thermal cover and a cooling unit with crew vests was added to the tanks. The tank squadron was augmented in mid September 2007 with the 20 Leopard 2A6Ms with slat bar type armour. The
Barracuda camouflage system was added in mid-2008. In late 2010, the tank squadron added five of the new Leopard 2A4Ms. The tank squadron operated with the three different Leopards until it was pulled from combat operations. The C2 MEXAS with the mine ploughs, mine rollers and the dozers were used alongside the Leopard 2's, until a bracket was installed for the Leopard 2A6M to mount them. After an initial assessment of the performance of the Leopard C2 in Afghanistan, Canada decided to invest in Leopard 2 tanks. It was determined that the lack of adequate air conditioning, essential in the searing heat of Afghanistan, was degrading the tank crew's war fighting ability. The Army later downplayed this factor, citing increased armour protection and the main gun armament as reasons for upgrading to the Leopard 2. After some public speculation, Canadian Defence Minister Hon.
Gordon O'Connor clarified the situation in April 2007. To meet immediate needs in Afghanistan, 20 of the Bundeswehr's stock of Leopard 2A6s were upgraded to the
2A6M standard and loaned to Canada at no cost by the German government. Two Leopard 2
Büffel ARVs were acquired at the same time. These vehicles were shipped from Germany to Afghanistan, with the first arriving on 16 August 2007. For the long term, Canada plans to replace the borrowed Leopard 2 tanks with a purchase of 100 surplus vehicles from the Netherlands, including 20 Leopard 2A6Ms for combat service, 40 Leopard 2A4s for training, and 20 support vehicles, such as ARVs, Bridge-Layers and AEVs. The older Leopard C2 tanks were considered completely obsolete by 2015, but specific plans for them have not yet been announced. Until deployment with the Canadian Forces in Afghanistan, the Leopard 1 C2 had never seen active combat. In February 2018, Canada attempted to sell the surplus Leopard 1C2 tanks to the
Jordanian Armed Forces. In July, it was announced that the sale fell through and the
Canadian Department of National Defence has yet to decide what to do with the surplus vehicles. Daniel Le Bouthillier, a spokesperson for the Canadian Department of National Defense, said "the last option would be to destroy the tanks." As of November 2021, no buyer was found for the Canadian Army's Leopard 1C2 tanks, "About 45 retired Canadian Army tanks will soon be used for target practice at the Cold Lake Air Weapons Range." A Vegreville Alberta company, Quest Disposal & Recycling Inc., was contracted to repurpose them to be used for target practice at Cold Lake Air Weapons Range, and the tanks were at the company's site being processed in December 2021.
Denmark In 1976, Denmark acquired 120 Leopard 1A3 tanks, which were designated
Leopard 1 DK. Delivery was completed in 1978. In 1989, an order for an additional 110 (used) German tanks (100 A3 and 10 A4) was placed, and the vehicles were delivered from 1992-1994, partly through
Conventional Forces Europe treaty AFV reduction requirements. These tanks were upgraded to
Leopard 1A5-DK, along with the first 120 Leopards. Being fitted with the welded turret of the Leopard 1A3, the Danish Leopard 1A5-DK tanks were not identical to the German Leopard 1A5, which were fitted with the cast turrets. An additional upgrade was issued to the 35 leopard 1A5DK that were sent to Bosnia through the
UNPROFOR/
SFOR mission. This variant was named 1A5DK-1 and was upgraded with air-condition, fire-suppression system, a Honda generator and a searchlight from the de-commissioned M41 DK1. Denmark had 230 Leopard (195 1A5-DK and 35 1A5DK-1) in service from 1995, until their retirement and complete replacement by the Leopard 2A5-DK tanks in 2005. These Leopards were involved in one of the most important engagements in modern Danish military history, which became known as
Operation Bøllebank. Denmark was the only Scandinavian country to send a significant tank force to support their peacekeeping operations in Croatia and Bosnia. On 29 April 1994 near the city of
Tuzla seven Danish Leopard 1A5 tanks were involved in a skirmish between
UNPROFORs Nordic Battalion (NORDBAT 2) and Bosnian-Serb military forces from the
Šekovići brigade. The tanks were sent out to relieve a Swedish-manned observation post that had come under ambush fire by the Bosnian-Serb forces. Upon the tanks arrival at the observation post they were shelled by mortar fire and anti-tank rockets, which led the
UN marked and white-painted Leopard 1A5 tanks to return fire. No casualties were suffered by Swedish observation post nor the Danish tanks. Serbian casualties were estimated as high as 150 soldiers. This is believed to be the first hostile engagement involving the Leopard 1 tank. The Danish Army had/has the following variants: • 120 Leopard 1A3 (1976-1993) All upgraded into 1A5Dk • 230 Leopard 1A5DK (1993-2005) (120(from 1976) + 110 "new A5") • 35 Leopard 1A5DK-1 (1995 -2005) (35 1A5DK was upgraded to the new version) • 16 Berger ARV (1993-2011) All Upgraded into FFG Wisent's (10 ARV + 6 AEV) • 10 FFG Wisent ARV (2011– present) • 4 FFG Wisent AEV Mine clearing vehicle (2011 – present) • 2 FFG Wisent AEV (2011– present) • 10 Biber AVLB (1994–2023) • 6 driving school cabin (1976-?) Denmark sold 100 of its last Leopard 1A5DK tanks to
FFG in Flensburg, Germany in 2010. In February 2023, Germany approved 178 Leopard 1 main battle tanks for export to Ukraine, and Denmark announced it would jointly purchase around 100 Leopard 1A5 main battle tanks with Germany and the Netherlands for Ukraine. 90 of the Danish Leopard tanks at FFG are expected to be part of this transfer.
Greece Greece bought its first 104
Leopard 1A3 GR tanks during 1983–1984. They are actually Leopard 1A3s, but came with an EMES 12A3 FCS and some other modifications required by the Greek army at that time. During 1992, the Greek army received a batch of 75 Leopard 1A5 as offsets for the construction of four
MEKO 200 frigates. Some months later, Greece received another batch of 170 Leopard 1V and 2 Leopard 1A5 from the Royal Netherlands army – the
Leopard 1V is basically an 1A1 with an EMES 12A3 AFSL-2 FCS and spaced turret armor. From 1998 until 2000, Greece bought 192 used Leopard 1A5s as offsets for the upgrade of the Greek F-4 aircraft in Germany in a symbolic price. In 2001, the Greek army decided to upgrade 104 Leopard 1A4GR and 120 Leopard 1V to the A5+ version, costing 234 million dollars. The programme was cancelled because Greece received a batch of 150 Leopard 1A5s along with the newly built Leopard 2A6 HEL. As of 2011, Greece is the largest user of Leopard 1 tanks, having over 500 Leopard 1A5 GR MBTs as well as many ST, Biber and Leguan versions. Greece is negotiating with Germany to supply nearly 100 of their Leopard 1A5s to Ukraine in exchange for these being backfilled on a one-to-one basis with Italian Leopard 1A5 tanks purchased from Swiss company RUAG and refurbished and upgraded by Rheinmetall.
Italy Italy had to replace an enormous number of M47 Pattons, with over 2,000 received from US stocks, but unlike other NATO members did not instigate a national project to achieve this. Its army, not entirely satisfied by the M60 Patton (300 delivered, of those 200 were produced by
OTO Melara), placed its first order for the Leopard 1 in 1970. 200 Leopard 1A1 and 69 Bergepanzer 2 were delivered between 1971 and 1972. The vehicles replaced the M47 in the Italian Army's
Cavalry Brigade "Pozzuolo del Friuli". A further 600 Leopard 1A2 and 67 Bergepanzer 2 were built in Italy by OTO Melara with deliveries starting in 1975, with a second batch of 120 build by OTO Melara between 1980 and 1983. All Italian-built Leopards were A2s, but without stabilizers and skirts. The 200 A1s originally bought from Germany were partially upgraded lately at this standard. Forty Pionierleopard (AEV), nine school (for drivers, without armament) and 64 Biber (AVLB) were ordered in 1985. Twelve of the Pionierleopard were produced in Germany and 28 by OTO Melara in Italy. All of the Biber were assembled by OTO Melara in Italy. By the end, Italy was the biggest customer of the Leopard outside Germany with 920 plus 250 special versions, the only one with a licence production, and the only country that produced both the M60 and Leopard 1. The Leopard was the basis for Italian MBTs and heavy artillery systems, starting with Leone/Lion and the following
OF-40, leading to other developments like the Palmaria and OTOMATIC artillery systems (both on an OF-40 hull). The experience made possible the development of the
C1 Ariete, after the Italian army decided in 1984 to have a new national tank, rather than buying 300 Leopard 2s. At the end of the Cold War, the Italian Army began an upgrade and a downsizing of its armoured units. A number of Leopards were retired in 1991, along with its fleet of M60 tanks. In 1995, Italy bought 120 surplus A5 turrets from the Bundeswehr, which were mounted on the same number of reworked A2 hulls. These tanks took part in the various peacekeeping missions in the
Balkans, never seeing action. The last A1/A2 was retired in 2003, with the last A5 going in 2008, leaving the
Ariete as the sole tank in Italian service. The AEVs, ARVs and AVLBs have been reduced in number and some have been modified to work with the Ariete. They are stated to serve for some more years, as no replacement has been selected yet. A deal to sell nearly 100 Leopard 1A5 tanks stored in Lenta to a South American country fell through in 2022.
Netherlands Leopard 1V The
Royal Netherlands Army ordered a total 468 Leopard 1 tanks from the fourth production series, built between October 1969 and March 1972, as a partial replacement for the Centurion tank. The initial order for 415 vehicles was placed on 27 December 1968 but was soon expanded to include another 53 tanks and 30 armoured recovery vehicles (subsequently increased to 51) following the
Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia. Dutch tanks were built with participation from local industry, including components supplied by companies such as
DAF. They were equipped with US radio sets using US-style antenna bases and a Dutch-designed smoke discharger system consisting of six launchers grouped into three pairs on either side of the turret. There were additional stowage boxes provided on the fenders around the hull and the FN MAG was used as secondary armament instead of the MG 3. At a later date, Dutch tanks were upgraded with a gun stabilization system from Honeywell and new optics for use with British-designed APDS ammunition. In 1987, all remaining Dutch Leopard 1s were upgraded to the
Leopard 1V (
Verbeterd or "improved") standard, which involved the provision of the EMES 12A3 AFSL-2 fire control system built to Dutch specifications by Honeywell and Zeiss as well as the spaced turret armour add-on package by Blohm & Voss. The program was plagued by technical challenges with the new fire control system, which rendered a significant number of upgraded tanks inoperable for a period of time, and cost overruns. By early 1995, the Leopard 1V was phased out of Dutch service without a replacement, with most vehicles either donated to Greece or sold to Chile. Approximately 50 tanks were retained for various purposes, including to be used as monuments, museum pieces, targets for live weapons practice, driver training vehicles and other niche applications.
Turkey The
Turkish Army upgraded its Leopard 1 tanks to a version called the '''Leopard 1T 'Volkan''''. The modernization program included the serial production and integration of the Volkan fire control system developed by
ASELSAN. The new indigenous system provides the capability of detecting the targets in daylight or at night in all weather conditions and combat environments. It significantly increases the first round hit probability on the move and also improve the usage life over 20 years. Turkey's other batch of Leo 1A3s are dubbed as
Leo 1A3T1 and are actually 1A3A3s with EMES-12A3 fire control system.
Ukraine Procurement problems At the outbreak of the
full-scale phase of the
Russo-Ukrainian War, Rheinmetall sought to buy back 96 Leopard 1A5IT tanks at the beginning of March 2022 from Swiss company RUAG, refurbish the tanks, and deliver them via a third country to Ukraine. Rheinmetall and RUAG signed a tentative purchase agreement for these tanks before a formal application for their sale and export was made with Swiss government authorities. Rheinmetall then requested an export permit for 88 Leopard 1A5 tanks to Ukraine in April 2022 along with 100
Marder IFVs it already had in its stocks. On 7 February 2023, the German federal government approved the export of 178 Leopard 1A5 main battle tanks to Ukraine, which included 88 Leopard 1A5 Rheinmetall claimed to have, and 90 Leopard 1A5DK available from FFG stocks. Germany, Denmark and the Netherlands subsequently issued a statement that the three countries would jointly finance the purchase of "at least" 100 Leopard 1A5 tanks. On February 13, Rheinmetall and RUAG signed a more formal agreement for the purchase of the 96 Leopard 1A5IT tanks stored in Italy, although this contract was also not formally approved by RUAG's management or board of directors. In May, Denmark's acting Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen clarified in an interview that the joint-venture included 80 Leopard 1A5DK from FFG co-financed by Denmark and Germany. Germany committed an additional 30 Leopard 1A5 tanks for Ukraine on 13 May 2023 as part of a new $2.95 billion military aid package. Canada agreed to supply 1,800 rounds of 105 mm training ammunition for the Leopard 1 tanks going to Ukraine. The Dutch contribution to the German-Danish-Dutch Leopard 1 consortium has not been made public, and the Netherlands was not included with Denmark on Germany's formal list of military aid to Ukraine until an update was made on March 29, 2024. In June, the Swiss Federal Council formally rejected RUAG's request for an export permit, blocking Rheinmtall's acquisition and the Netherlands ability to buy the tanks for Ukraine. Belgium was negotiating with OIP Land Systems over the purchase of an additional 50 Leopard 1A5BE tanks sold to the company in 2014, but could not come to an agreement on price. On 11 July, Germany pledged a new €700 million aid package which included additional Leopard 1 tanks for Ukraine on top of those previously pledged. Rheinmetall subsequently purchased all 50 Leopard 1A5BE from OIP Land Systems to fulfill this obligation. 30 of these 50 tanks are to be refurbished for active service and 20 used for spare parts. Denmark pledged an additional 30 Leopard 1 tanks to Ukraine on September 19, 2023, as part of a larger US$830 million aid package. The source of these tanks was not disclosed, with the Danish Defense Minister stating they would be purchased from other countries that had these tanks available. These tanks were in addition to the 80 1A5DKs previously financed with Germany, bringing the total number of Leopard 1A5 publicly pledged by Denmark and Germany to Ukraine to 165, although as many as 195 tanks may be financed already since Dutch contributions are not public. The status of the 96 Leopard 1A5IT remains in legal limbo. Acquiring these tanks for Ukraine has been complicated by the Swiss government's refusal to sell the tanks to third countries due to neutrality concerns, as well as the discovery that 25 of these 96 were already purchased by Bavarian firm Global Logistics Support GmbH (GLS) back in 2019. Germany considered negotiating with Greece the transfer of nearly 100 of their Leopard 1A5 tanks in exchange for Rheinmetall backfilling them on a one-to-one basis with the remaining Leopard 1s available from RUAG. As such, the legal ownership of the tanks is unclear. The Swiss Federal Audit Office, the German Public Prosecutor's Office, and the Italian government are investigating the matter to clarify the tanks' legal status, which could enable their eventual delivery to Ukraine. However, on May 28, 2025, Switzerland green-lit the sale of its 71 remaining Leopard 1A5IT tanks held by RUAG to Germany, albeit on the condition that they were not sold to Ukraine. The sale to Rheinmetall was completed on 5 June 2025. GLS finally waived its claims to the remaining 25 Leopard 1A5IT tanks after an out-of-court settlement, allowing RUAG to finally complete the sale of the remaining tanks to Rheinmetall and close its Italian warehouse storing the vehicles on 26 June 2025.
Delivery difficulties and delays Denmark's Defense Minister stated on 11 March 2023 that the first batch of Leopard 1 tanks should be delivered to Ukraine by the spring. However, Germany's Defence Minister
Boris Pistorius told his Ukrainian counterpart
Oleksii Reznikov that 20-25 tanks would be delivered by the summer, around 80 by the end of 2023, and an additional 100 in 2024. The first 10 were delivered to Ukraine by 18 July 2023. An additional 10 were delivered by 29 August, aligning with the delivery schedule given by Pistorius. However, the second batch of 10 Leopard 1A5 tanks to be delivered from Germany was refused by Ukraine due to the vehicles' poor condition and the lack of available spare parts and engineers to repair the vehicles in Ukraine. German experts travelled to Poland and confirmed the tanks required repairs due to the extensive training the vehicles performed in the preceding weeks. Germany agreed to cooperate on the tank repairs before their delivery. As of May 2024, only 30 Leopard 1A5 had arrived in Ukraine. However, an additional 60 tanks were turned over but at the behest of the Ukrainian Armed Forces training in Germany was extended; an additional 20 tanks will be fully upgraded by June by FFG, and the 25 1A5BEs will be refurbished by Rheinmetall by mid year. By 17 April 2025, 103 Leopard 1 tanks had been delivered to Ukraine with at least 22 pending delivery. The delivery any additional Leopard 1 tanks (including those acquired from RUAG) will not be made public, as the new German government under
Chancellor of Germany Friedrich Merz amended its policy to no longer publicize details about Germany's military aid and delivery schedule to Ukraine.
Active combat ,
10th Army Corps with
Kontakt-1 ERA blocks Beginning in summer 2023 Ukrainian Wisent 1 mine clearing vehicles and Bergepanzer 2 armored recovery vehicles were used in the
2023 Ukrainian counteroffensive in the
Zaporizhzhia direction, with at least one Wisent 1 being visually confirmed lost, and at least one Bergepanzer 2 suffering damage. On October 18, the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine announced the official adoption of the Leopard 1A5, along with the Leopard 2A5 and 2A6. Footage of a destroyed Ukrainian Leopard 1A5 and Bergepanzer 2 appeared on social media in summer 2024.
Leopard 1 local upgrades By September 2024 members of the Ukrainian 5th Separate Tank Brigade (now
5th Heavy Mechanized Brigade, part of
10th Army Corps) had upgraded their Leopard 1s to a standard that they dubbed "Leopard 1A5V". The Leopard 1A5V includes new additions such as extra armor, ERA blocks on the turret, front, and mid sections of the tank, as well as an extendable cage with netting to protect the turret from drones. == Operators ==