Canadian Army Leopard-2 put two round within 10 metres of a target at 7300 metres

The Canadian Army Instructor Gunnery (CA IG) Team in collaboration with RCACS, supported by a crew and tanks from C Sqn RCD, trialed firing the Leopard 2 in the semi-indirect role at a range of 7300m, which was never done before in Canada with a Leopard 2.

Generally speaking, tanks do “direct fire”, which means the gunner can see the target and shoots directly at it. Artillery does “indirect fire”, which is that the gunner and crew cannot see the target and so uses special calculations and a forward observer to hit the target. Sometimes, though, you can see a target but it is too far away for the gunner to see but the commander can see it. This is where Armour ingenuity comes in! With a little bit of clever math and a few tools, it can be done! Canada has previously done this with our former tanks the Leopard 1, and in fact used to teach it as part of tank gunnery. However, until the 3rd of December 2020, no one had tried it with the Leopard 2 in Canada. The CA IG Team arranged a special range to test the concept. Special thanks go to C Squadron RCD for providing the tank, ammunition and the crew. A special recognition must go to a former member of the CA IG team, WO Bulmer, for his enormous contribution to this project and for developing the firing tables. 

Now for the results! The team successfully put two training round (which doesn’t explode) within 10 metres of a target at 7300 metres. Considering that the explosive danger radius of a service high explosive round for tanks is 50 metres, it’s quite an accomplishment. To put that in perspective, if the distance between the opposing’s team blue line and the net in hockey is the normal range of a Leopard 2, we just scored a goal from inside our own blue line!

Via "Royal Canadian Armoured Corps School"