Leopard 2 Commissioning in Germany

By Cpl C.A. Hogemann, A Sqn

 

On 19 Aug 11, 10 soldiers from A and B Sqn left for Munster, Germany to commission the new Leopard 2A4M Main Battle Tank. In the first week, the crews went to work and put the tank through its paces to make sure they all worked properly.  After all the initial tests were completed and the problems the crews found were fixed, we were ready to commence the commissioning portion of our visit. During the second week we set off on a road move for the range where we would test the live fire capabilities of the new main battle tanks. At the range the tanks performed perfectly and Cpl Sears of A Sqn had the tightest grouping out of six shooters. After the range portion was complete, we moved the tanks back to Munster for their final week of testing, and some good old fashioned cleaning. The last test for new tanks to pass was the driving circuit. The drivers went off for a little fun and some crucial testing of the stabilization system in order to determine how the tanks would perform cross-country. After three weeks testing was complete,  we begrudgingly returned home to Edmonton.