Quote:
Originally Posted by Ursus Maior
Additionally, the Leopard 1A4 never served, to my knowledge, in foreign armies. The A4 was the last lot delivered to the Bundeswehr, exclusively, and included better optics than its direct predecessor the A3. All 250 A4s were taken out of service in 1989 - so 2 years after the A5 entered service - and most of them were sold. But those 235 A4 sold were downgraded to the A3 model before that. The remainder were used for target practice, went into museums or were destroyed as part of CFE compliance.
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While the 1A4 wasn't exported, the Greek 1A3 GR was arguably closer to a German 1A4 than a German 1A3. The 1A3 GR had the same computerized FCS as the 1A4, with an EMES 12A3 sighting system instead of the 1A4's 12A1. The only thing the 1A4 might have had that the 1A3 GR didn't was an independent night sight for the commander (I'm not sure whether the 1A3 GR had one or not).
Reading the Leopard 1 description on Paul's site a little more deeply, the Dutch Leopard 1V isn't a Leopard 1A3 with an EMES 12A3. It's a Leopard 1A1A4 with an EMES 12A3, so less armored than the presented stats. In addition to 170 Leopard 1V transferred to Greece, they also sent 2 prototype upgraded Leopard 1V with the EMES 18 system from the Leopard 1A5. I don't believe it was in exchange for anything, it was part of complying with the CFE's requirement that the Netherlands cut their MBT forces from 913 tanks to 743 and the tanks to either be destroyed or given to another NATO member.