Discover option of Leopard 1 tank upgrade for Ukraine fitted with new Cockerill 105mm turret.

Discover the upgrade solution of Leopard 1 Main Battle Tank fitted with the latest generation of Cockerill 3105 Weapon station developed and designed by the Belgian company John Cockerill Defense. This upgrade could be an option to deliver old Leopard 1A5BE to Ukraine improved with the latest generation of weapon stations able to fire standard 105mm ammunition as well as anti-tank guided missiles.
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The new improved version of the Leopard 1 fitted with the Cockerill® 3105 weapon station has already successfully conducted firing on the move in March 2022. (Picture source JCD)

The Belgian army operated around a hundred Leopard 1A5BE tanks, weighing 40 tons and armed with a 105mm cannon. It retired the last Leopard in late 2014. Some of these tanks were bought by the Belgian firm OIP which would still have around twenty Leopard 1A5BE.

Considering that the excellent chassis of the Leopard 1 would require minor refurbishment, a solution exists to simply replace the whole turret with its gun, fire control system, etc., which would remarkably update the tank in a single operation.

With this new improvement, the Leopard 1A5 will keep its high mobility capabilities on road and off-road but will be equipped with the latest generation of weapon systems designed and developed by the Belgian company John Cockerill Defense.

In March 2022, the Leopard 1 tank tracked chassis fitted with the Cockerill® 3105 weapon station has already conducted firing tests with impressive results and was entirely realized by the John Cockerill Defense team using their know-how of vehicle upgrades, to meet the need of armies to renew their fleet with a restricted budget.

The "standard" form of the Cockerill 3000 Series provides full digital weapon stabilization and digitalized fire control system to deliver a very high target-hit chance. The turret is also fitted with a thermal and day sight to provide 24-hour operation whether the vehicle is moving or static as well as external cameras providing 360° coverage. The turret is also equipped with eight smoke grenade dischargers, an active defense system, and acoustic gunshot detection.

The Cockerill® 3105 is a new generation of weapon station fully designed and developed by the Belgian company John Cockerill. This modern designed turret offers many advantages to empower modern combat vehicles, with protection, precision, and firepower necessary to fulfill the mission. The turret is armed with a 105mm High Pressure (HP) cannon and one 7.62mm coaxial machine gun.

The Cockerill® 3105 weapon station is armed with a NATO-standard Cockerill 105 mm high-pressure gun which is able to fire the latest generation of 105mm NATO ammunition as well as the Falarick 105 anti-tank guided missile. The turret is fitted with an automatic loading system with up to 16 ready-to-fire ammunition. Due to the use of this system, the crew in the turret is reduced to 2 men including the commander and gunner.

The FALARICK 105 is a high-explosive (HE), laser-guided, gun-launched anti-tank guided missile (GLATGM), designed to defeat fixed and moving modern armored targets, lightly tactical vehicles, and helicopters. The missile has a maximum firing range of 5,000 m and is able to penetrate ERA (Explosive Reactive Armor) with a thickness of up to 550mm.