I think the English was a bit of a problem :D As a Belgian, this was really cool to see though, I've visited that museum a couple of times, great place.
Really appreciate the effort that Belgian bloke put into this informative interview. Even though English isn't his first language and i assume he was also nervous about being filmed, he did a great job. Thanks Cheiftain and Belgian bloke.
Chieftain knows how to do interviews: ask your question and let the subject answer. Don’t interrupt like news reporters do too often. In this case, he also did a good job helping his subject where English was obviously a second language.
News reporters, unlike historians, have a duty to interrupt if the interviewed is trying to lie, deflect or weasel out of an important question. Unfortunately, too many reporters doesn't do that anymore and presumes honest intent and too many misinformation agents are allowed to false flag as reporters which creates a negative spiral.
You know news reporters letting people speak unquestioned for ages isn't usually a good thing right? Otherwise the interviewee has a tendency to mumble about taking up interview time to avoid difficult questions.
english is about as easy as it gets in respect to foreign languageges. Older generations just are not fluent in it. But i would bet on it, that he is fluent in french.
Friction surface area provided by the two to three dozen rubber pads on the tracks always touching the road compared to the four to six narrow rubber tyres on a car... A tank with all steel tracks will slide on hard surfaces like a hovercraft or soap on wet shower floors...
That and the brakes are very powerful. They need to be if you are going to be using them to steer with, and it's just a big heavy vehicle. The brakes on your car are sized to the weight of your car. You can make them stronger, but after a certain limit, the traction of the tires is the limiting factor and there is no reason to make them any larger, it won't help. A tank can install and use about as much braking power as you want. They make brakes to stop 747s from 200kts to 0 in a couple thousand feet. And they need fancy anti-lock brake systems to do it. The tires will lock up easily.
@@justforever96 you cant run as much braking power as you want on a tank either. even on asphalt leo2 will completely lock up its tracks under heavy braking. Auto motor and sport magazine tested a leo2a4 against a porsche 993 and there are nice pictures of that test with leo2 leaving massive skid marks on the asphalt and the magazine wrote over the picture that 911 brakes with abs hence no skidmarks on the ground compared to the leo2 which has no abs and left a massive skidmark on the ground.
As a Light Colonel. Nick will spend more time commanding a desk than anything with tracks and armour on it. So the chance to do what got him into the army in the first place...
My memory may be a bit hazy as I'm an old git now but after basic training in The Royal Armored Corp at Catterick ( 5 weeks basic infantry training ) we did about 4 months of trade training that would be either driving and maintenance ( D&M ) or gunnery, first aid, NBC and phase one signals then we'd go to holding troop or straight to our regiments. Most of that would be either D&M or gunnery. At the end if your first trade was driving you'd sit your driving test and get a H license I got mine in May 1984. The same driving test rules applied for people in the forces as for civilians so no easy pass, you had to be able to drive on the road legally. Then in around a year you would have done your other major trade training either gunnery ( range period in Honer then live firing in Canada ( BATUS )) in my case or driving at your regiment and become a RAC Crewman with a bump in pay. Gunners who got to the regiment usually did at least one scheme driving so they knew how to drive a tank at least in a basic fashion. It's relatively easy to drive a tank but it takes a lot of time to learn how to drive one well and not destroy the engine, gearbox and running gear or beat the hell out of the rest of the crew. I learned on Chieftain then did a conversion to Challenger in late1986. I was in 3RTR
I visited this army museum Gunfire in Brasschaat Belgium it is an very nice museum it has not only thanks but also an very good section of the history of the second world war in Antwerp. The have also an very good display on leapards gunners learning tools. If you are interested in the matter it is the place to visit.
I like how Nicholas's system of checking armor thickness on a tank is the same I use...the knock acoustic test! if it sounds like a rock...it's probably over 5cm thick. if you hear a clang, you can sorta accurately guess somewhere between .5cm-3cm depending on the resonance...if you have a good ear.
The smile at 31:00... you can really tell he missed being in the TC position in a tank being driven relatively hard in comparison to other tanks he's ridden in! (ALSO SORRY I SKIPPED TO THE DRIVING PART!! am going back to the start now to watch in full)
You have to compare the performance of a Leopard 1 to other Tanks, the Leopard is not driven hard, the back would rise further when realy hard bracking. The Leopard is an old tank but the Abrams had to match the Leopards performance. I think he enjoys riding a Steel Beast which got the Performance of his old M1 Abrams again, that is what he misses and enjoys a fast Tank to ride. The old Leopard 1 is in the same Speed Bracket of 65 -70kph like the M1 Abrams, Leopard 2, T-80, T-90, K2 Black Panther. And that is it only those MBT of 40+ tons which are in this Speedbracket. He is the slowest and lightest of the pack but still a blast to sit in.
Love the Belgiques. When their reserves sold off their last WWII vehicles in 1982 they first invited us across the border to have our pick of monument vehicles. I took a Scout car for my Brigade S-3 shop and 2-68 Armor an upgraded Sherman with ammo. They got in a lot of trouble by later railing it to Graf for gunnery.
@@davidlefranc6240it’s partly budgetary. The main reason they gave for retiring all our tracked vehicles is because wheeled vehicles are supposedly more mobile and they intended the Belgian army to be a small but elite fast reaction force. Let’s just say it didn’t work out to well
The facility is not closed at all, and the “new” location won’t open for quite some years to come. Opening hours can be found on gunfire artillery museum.
Wow. what a great museum to put on the list! Did anyone else notice some of the other stuff as he was driving around? Very interesting! This is what my place is going to look like if/when I win the lottery. Great to see them thumping that Leo around like it was meant to be and not coddling it. I liked the smile on the Chieftain's face after the first stop. I hope he will do some more videos from here! EDIT: Aha! I was in the Royal Military Museum in the 90's and personally ranked it as one of the best military museums I have been to. And the staff was incredibly welcoming, despite my only being able to speak english with some terrible high-school French... I didn't have time to do any other locations but will definitely put them on my bucket list now.
OK, who here was expecting a RSM to come running out screaming at Vim and the Chieftain for driving the Leopard 1 too fast inside the base compound? Yes, I realised later that this is a Museum, but I fully expected an RSM or Belgian equivalent to appear. Maybe it's just my own personal Reserve Service PTSD showing through? 😢 I never got yelled at for driving too fast inside the unit compound, but that doesn't mean that I wasn't expecting to be yelled at for something? Usually it was the Squadron Sergeant Majors that were the worst. The RSM was usually pretty cool because he had made RSM, the others were still wanting to climb the slippery pole. Mark from Melbourne Australia 🇦🇺 Former Australian Army Reservist '88 to mid 90s.
Active force. it will all be about the maintenance time and pad wear. A museum tank does not have to worry about having the vehicle in combat ready condition, just drivable and safe. Besides, Vim is showing of to a visiting "Treadhead".
The Leopard has got to be one of my favorite tanks of all time. Obviously it's well past its prime right now. But I think I would have felt very confident going onto a large scale conventional battlefield in the 1970s surrounded by a few of these things.
@@SonsOfLorgar Indeed. I'm a firm believer in the mantra that any tank is better than no tank. Even on a modern battlefield the Leopard can still do nearly every job we'd ask of a modern tank (albiet less efficiently), with the only exception being the job of fighting other tanks. That's why I was always a supporter of the idea of sending Leopard 1s to Ukraine (on the understanding that they would be "in addition to" and not "instead of" any Leopard 2s sent).
@@gareththompson2708 I saw an interview with a retired Ukrainian tank officer who stated that from his conversations with Ukrainian Leo 1A5 crews it's proved to be a very effective in an anti-armour defensive role; at max range ~4.5km one in three shots was a direct hit, 3km and under had a 100% hit rate. It's manoeuvrability is a massive bonus versus T-series tanks, and the fire control system and thermal imager means it's particularly effective at night.
what a coincidense, as yesterday i was in the National Military Museum at Soesterberg, The Netherlands to see a Leopard A1 driving in the arena. Old, but still a nice beast to see running around.
Fun facts, the Leopard without turret is also in driving condition. The Leopard 1A1 was a later version downgraded back to A1 standard by Wim’s son who’s also a volunteer at the museum.
We had one "convertible" in our basic tank mechanic training unit with the Bundeswehr. This thing was dismantled and re-assembled for decades by raw recruits (at least one of which still has two left hands ...) and it still ran. After reassembly, the "drill" sergeant took us all on a ride.
Why ignore the jagpanter ? During my time in the Belgian army I saw one of these everyday . The most beauty tank in the Belgian army ! Thanks for these interviews about Belgian tanks
Guy seems to be the classic nerd type, just really loves his tanks and can tell you all about them, but is pretty socially awkward and not at all militaristic or anything. I love guys like this, the same ones that get into cars or trains or airplanes or whatever. They are usually the best sort of people.
all the Belgian leopard 1A5BE's are now in Ukraine, i hope they perform very well i personally remember when these tanks where still in service until 2014 and i think it's a big offense (if not an outright crime) not only towards the military but also the country to allow it's army to have no tanks (or AA or 155 SPG's)
An interesting conundrum. For many years, any danger to Belgium would have to approach through a threat corridor by sea -- past Scotland and England -- or through the Netherlands, or France, or Germany. So coastal patrol frigates and coastal submarines would make sense, but all likely threats would be entering the country legally (or illegally, but via the same means). Meanwhile, Fabrique National de Belgiac (spelling?) has maintained the policy of keeping on-hand a new rifle, submachine-gun, or pistol, of the latest types, for every Belgian citizen, as it has since something like 1950; the military and police are to maintain custody and training for crew-served weapons including anti-tank and anti-aircraft, also of the latest types, as a core to provide leadership in the event of a need for national defense, as per resolutions passed 1947 (1946?)-1965 inclusive.
@@Toolazyfornewname It was an eye-opener, one that stuck with me! Have you watched Perun's channel, the update on Global Arms Trade dropped this morning; FN, "We arm the World, (so we can afford to keep sufficient of all our latest for domestic use)!"
@@annadalassena5460 I take it you have never bothered to read the Defense Council's typed records in Brussels for that time period, and then asked around to see if it's still S.O.P. As of 1997, it was.
Why would we need all of that ? We aren't a big military and we certanly aren't working on our own. We can support our allies that way without causing ourselves costs we can't afford to pay.
5 месяцев назад
Very nice Video. Thanks a lot to the War Heritage Institute for hosting the Chiftain. It would be nice to see this collection one day in person
very cool and not so much known feature on leopard 1 tanks is the exaust sound, this will make so much noise that you cant tell how many leopard 1 tanks that are coming or where they come from.... you hear a sound coming closer and higher towards you but where does is come from.................. norwegian leaoprd 1 tanks welded steel inforced guides under the enginebay floor because it was worn fast down by rocks and other hard materials in the nature...
AS a belgian guys. It's paintfull to watch this video. The guest had hard time with Englsih. It could be beter to translate what he was saying. Because I think we miss a lot of information. But thanks for the video
It breaks my heart that Canada paid to have its ~45 remaining Leopard C2 (1A5) tanks (including MEXAS variants) turned into target pieces in December 2021. Those 45 tanks would've been useful for Ukraine in its war against Russia and been a sizable contribution to the 🇩🇪🇩🇰🇳🇱 Leopard 1 consortium. At least 25-50 Belgian 1A5BEs will end up in Ukraine, thanks to Rheinmetall buying them off OIP.
Super cool seeing that leopard ripping at the end! That Stops on a dime. Vin can sure drive! The driver's head looks like it's touching the turret. Wouldn't want the turret to be spinning with your head out.
Well this people are fun! When they are asked: we have one in the world prototype of the tank. Would you like to play with it? What kind of answer they expect?
A small heads up to people wanting to visit the Gunfire museum in Brasschaat where this was filmed. The area with all the heavy equipment (like tanks) is now closed to the public, as I found out today unfortunately… Apparently they are preparing all the vehicles to be moved to Ieper.
The german Leopard 1´s didnt get a late 80´s early 90´s armor upgrade. MEXAS-H as mounted on the belgian and canadian Leopard 1´s improves protection vs RPG´s and 30mm cannons and is a mid to late 90´s applique armor. You could mount it on german Leopard 1A5´s, as its mounting is universal for the cast turret. MEXAS-H is a ceramic-steel-rubber layered composite
Slip rings. On the turret ring or under the turret floor there's two sets of of a copper slip ring and a spring loaded copper pickup, one for each polarity. As the turret turns, the pickups slide along the rings, maintaining contact and power transfer. Modern tanks probably has some kind of UIP or APU system with it's own battery in the turret that is kept topped up though the slip rings to keep the electronics fed without risk of micro glitches.
If Belgium needs to restart a tank program they should partner with Ukrainian tank trainers. Belgium buys tanks for both countries and both train together in Belgium.
Where are they going to buy them from? Germany is busy trying to produce enough Leopard 2s to rebuild their own Army strength? 😮 Mark from Melbourne Australia 🇦🇺
@@markfryer9880 Living in Europe, I'm starting to lose patience with the idea that European countries cannot adjust production levels of tanks or 155mm shells, etc. If Germany really cannot figure it out, buy US Abrams or South Korean K2s with an EU factory deal like Poland did. It isn't as if anyone in Belgium even remembers the Leopard anyways. There isn't a worker shortage in the EU. Open a bid process and see which company steps up.
There's more money going to Ukraine than the entire Belgian defense budget, by more than an order of magnitude! As for the idea of training together . . . not bad, especially if crews with combat experience from various tanks (Leopard 1, Leopard 2, T-64/T-80, T-72/T-84, T-62, Chieftain, Abrams) can be sent from Ukraine to Belgium to update the instruction materials and offer in-person hands-on training and lecture, alongside "school" instructors for technical matters, instruction in maintenance and repair by-the-book, et cetera. Experienced crew men saying, "It was a dark and stormy night, and the mud would drag you to your death if you got out to piss, but there we were on a sheet of plywood doing track maintenance . . . when _name_ saw the T-80 coming through the woods. "He was the first to catch it as he stood up into a burst from the Russian tank's machine gun . . . " "Keep low!" I yelled, "Get around to the other side to get in!" Lessons to be learned: Don't wait to do maintenance, a better time might not happen. Keep some plywood around. Keep an alert watch, that's what infantry is for. Don't stand up to point out the danger, it tells the enemy that the gig is up. Use available cover. It really helps if you have an ATGM to pull security with, because you may have trouble getting your tank rolling and rocking if the enemy comes knocking. As for delays expanding manufacturing production, that's the product of atrophy. Just as in the biological, suddenly straining the sinews to take a formerly capable load will predictably result in debilitating self-injury. There has to be a build-out to build-up. That takes _years,_ historically three years to start making progress and five years to hit stride, when speaking of heavy industrial manufacturing of any form whatsoever. The tools to make the tools to make the tools have to be made, buildings built to house factories, where an industrial foundation to stabilize the equipment may have to set for three years just for the concrete to cure! The kind of concrete used for that during World War II set more strongly, faster, because it used _coral_ as fill -- and mining coral is _illegal_ now. EDIT: Where would they buy them from? Germany has several thousands of Leopard 1 tanks sitting abandoned in the woods, if you want to buy and upgrade to the standards of the former Belgian Army Leopards upgraded and sent on to Ukraine, or similar. You should be able to buy those for scrap metal prices, minus transportation costs, as many no doubt _are_ scrap metal after thirty-five years unmaintained; the German government has not sold them for scrap already because it doesn't cost them anything to leave them, while the German government would have to _pay_ to dispose of them!
@TheChieftainsHatch you might be able to cover the Sabres, a Isreali modernization of the M60s for the turkish landforces. They were on display a few tines to my knowledge, but I don't know if they still are on displays nowadays. Regardless, thank you for the reply :D
