Flugabwehrkanonenpanzer Gepard

For the World War II German self-propelled anti-aircraft gun see Flakpanzer 38(t)

The Flakpanzer (shortened form of the German Flugabwehrkanonenpanzer or "anti-aircraft cannon tank") Gepard (English: Cheetah) is an autonomous, all-weather-capable German self-propelled anti-aircraft gun (SPAAG). It was developed in the 1960s and fielded in the 1970s, and has been upgraded several times with the latest electronics. It constitutes a cornerstone of the air defence of the German Army (Deutsches Heer) and a number of other NATO-states.

Description

It is based on the Leopard 1 tank hull with a large fully rotating turret carrying the armament—a pair of 35 mm Oerlikon KDA autocannons and the two radar dishes—a general search radar at the rear of the turret and the tracking radar, and a laser rangefinder, at the front between the guns.

The guns are 90 calibres (3.15 m) long, with a muzzle velocity of 1,440 m/s (FAPDS - frangible, armour piercing, discarding sabot rounds), giving an effective range of 5,500 m. The KDA autocannon can take two different ammunition types, and the usual loading is a mix of 320 AA and 20 AP rounds per gun. Combined rate of fire is 1,100 rounds/min.

The electrically driven turret is powered by a 40 kW generator driven by a 4-cylinder, 3.8 litre Mercedes-Benz OM 314 multi-fuel engine.

Since the eighties Stinger teams have been accompanying the Gepard units, to take advantage of their long-range scanning capacity. To combine this capacity in a single unit a missile system upgrade which mounts the Nato ManPad missiles like Stinger surface-to-air missile to the autocannon was developed. The system was tested by the German Bundeswehr but not bought due to budget restrictions and the fielding of the Ozelot Light Flak (leFla) System.

The Gepard was developed from 1963 onwards. In 1969 construction began of four A prototypes testing both 30 and 35 mm guns. On 25 June 1970 it was decided to use the 35 mm type. In 1971 twelve second phase B prototypes were ordered; the same year the Dutch army ordered a CA preseries of five vehicles based on a parallel development that had used a German 0-series Leopard 1 vehicle made available by the German government in March 1970 as the C-prototype. The Germans made a small preseries of both the B1and B2R. On 5 February 1973 the political decision was made to produce the type; in September 1973 the contract was signed with Krauss-Maffei for 432 B2 turrets and 420 hulls with a total value of DM1,200,000,000. Each vehicle would thus be about three times more expensive than a normal Leopard 1. The first was delivered in December 1976. Belgium ordered 55 vehicles, identical to the German version. The Dutch ordered three batches, the CA1, CA2 and CA3 with in total 95 vehicles, equipped with Philips radar systems.