Leopard 1 tanks fitted with reactive armour: A necessary risk?

Ukrainians have been deploying reactive armour tiles on Western tanks and other armoured vehicles, which has become a meme. Now, the rumours about covering old Leopard 1 tanks with reactive armour have come true. We explain the reasons for this action and examine whether it is effective.

Using reactive armour tiles on tanks makes a lot of sense, even though it has problems. Ukrainians have become standard in reinforcing Leopard 2A4 tanks, whose primary armour reflects the 1980s.

These tiles significantly increase the level of protection against shaped charge warheads (they are particularly effective against simple single-warhead solutions), but their method of operation can be catastrophic for the crew if mounted on vehicles with too thin armour.

Ukrainians are not as catastrophically imaginative as Russians, who mounted reactive armour tiles on BMP series infantry fighting vehicles or UAZ Buchanka cars. Leopard 1 tanks have stronger armour than those (several inches of armoured steel reinforced with Lexan panels (one of the polycarbonate variants)). Still, its thickness will be on the borderline of safety when using reactive armour tiles.

The revealed photo shows a Leopard 1A5 tank covered with a mix of reactive armour tiles. Some appear to be well-known Kontakt-1 tiles, while others look like those from T-64 tanks so that they might be Ukrainian 'Knife' tiles.

Ukrainians likely decided to use them to increase protection against FPV drones with attached PG-7VL grenades, which Russians also use. These single-warhead grenades are capable of penetrating about 500 millimetres (20 inches) of armoured steel. These grenades are used extensively on drones, and in such cases, a reactive armour cassette will work.

The situation is worse if the tank is hit by a larger calibre anti-tank guided missile or a missile with a tandem (double) shaped charge. In such a case, the tile and the fragile armour behind it won’t be enough. Similarly, kinetic penetrators like APFSDS (armour-piercing, fin-stabilised, discarding sabot ammunition) also require massive armour for protection.

Reactive armour tiles are cassettes containing explosive material that detonates upon impact by a shaped charge jet. The explosion generates a shock wave and a hail of fragments from the casing, which disperse the shaped charge jet, negating its armour-piercing properties. It is crucial that the tank's armour can withstand the explosion.

For this reason, reactive armour tiles are designed for specific vehicle types, and for example, those used on infantry fighting vehicles like the M2A2 Bradley ODS are different from those on tanks. It's also worth noting that Ukrainians mainly use the Leopard 1A5 tanks for firing support from a few kilometres away, where the main threat is from drones, as other vehicles like Polish PT-91 Twardy tanks are used for assaults.