Flakpanzer Gepard Self Propelled Anti-Aircraft Gun : Overview
Вставка
- Опубліковано 6 жов 2024
- The Flugabwehrkanonenpanzer Gepard anti-aircraft cannon tank Cheetah, better known as the Flakpanzer Gepard is an 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 constituted a cornerstone of the air defence of the German Army (Bundeswehr) and a number of other NATO countries. In Germany, the Gepard was phased out in late 2010 to be replaced by "SysFla", a mobile and stationary air defence system using the LFK NG missile and the new MANTIS gun system. The mobile platform of SysFla will likely be based on the GTK Boxer.[1]
Description
The vehicle is based on the hull of the Leopard 1 tank 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. Each gun has a firing rate of 550 rounds/min.
The guns are 90 calibres (3.15 m (10 ft 4 in)) long, with a muzzle velocity of 1,440 m/s (4,700 ft/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; 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 that mounts the NATO ManPad Stinger surface-to-air missile (in twin packs) to the autocannons 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 Dutch version was officially called the PRTL (PantserRupsTegenLuchtdoelen translating to "ArmourTrackAgainstAirtargets"), pronounced as "pruttel" (meaning 'to sputter') by the soldiers. The Dutch series version was made public through a photograph of a vehicle from a C-Company, the first to be equipped with the new weapon. Traditionally all Dutch vehicles in a company have names beginning with the company designation letter and this vehicle happened to have the individual name Cheetah painted in bold type on its turret. Inevitably the international press assumed "Cheetah" was the Dutch name for their Gepard version and this mistake found its way into most armour publications on the subject. In 2000 the Dutch military authorities, tired of constantly having to explain all this and considering "pruttle" was hardly a martial name anyway, conformed themselves to common error and made "Cheetah" the official designation, when the system was upgraded.
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Flakpanzer Gepard Self Propelled Anti-Aircraft Gun
Perfect for home defense
Honestly if you ever need a panzer, anti air would be best
" Find at your local Ammunation! "
Would be intresting to se when the state come to get your guns away... would be some what of a fair fight
Yes, u can remote turret and weaponsystem. But i think youre getting trouble with neighbours. Cause the engine and exhaust from the 2nd engine for making energy is very loud.
Leopard crews were not amused at night when a Gepard is in the near.
hate it when the burglars come with fighter jets through the kitchen window again -.- ... not this time
I was a tank commander on the Gepard from 1990 till 1996 it was lots of fun especially on combined firing ranges. But as time goes by it was only useful against choppers. Jets turned out to fast during their combat maneuvers in modern times. The Gepard was useful during 70s till late 80s when combat speeds where 800 km/h. Oerlikon is pronounced earlicon. Turret turns 360 in 4 seconds on level ground. On a 10 shot burst one shot minimum would land inside a 12 meter oval circle which would be a hit on the plane. My Tank is now in Romania.
oh firing ranges were Todendorf for antiaircraft, Putlos for combined combat range.
Let me guess....served in Rüdelranch Rendsburg...;)
Interesting comment Gordian. Did the barrels get hot and you had to stop shooting, like on the Shilka? I think it was sold off/retired too early. Someone in the Bundeswher made money out of this being sold.
Were you the crew of a MANPAD version, or just whatever was standard at the time?
Horst Grobalschek Eine Frage waren sie in Kassel, kenne noch als Kind die Bundeswehr in Kassel
With the amount of drones used these days on the battlefield I think it's useful again. Shooting down cheap drones with missiles is not sustainable. Israel used multiple patriot missiles to shut down a single drone from Syria. LOL.
@Burt Reynolds Corpse sad but true
@Ouchwitz Summer Camp Donald Trump:
Make Israel great again!
Rheinmetall already Made a System against drones
@@lordtachanka6489 Do you mean the one with the 40mm airburst grenade launcher? That video was great!
@@eurasianlynx5584 yeah i just saw it today:)
This would be effective against waves of drones that're starting to appear on the battlefield.
they would be effective against next to anything that attacks ground targets from low altitude
Drones are best countered by laser air defense systems like Rheinmetalls HEL. Much cheaper, more precise and faster.
@@mikedittsche in pace time but if the germans must have learnt something is that overengineered weapons is that they have the tendency to fail, a lot. That was their demise in the WWII (tiger, dora). A laser would definitely more prone to fail and being damage than an old fashioned autocannon, specially a land based one that could be damage by a simple antimaterial rifle. What would be easier to repair, the awfully complicated optical system of the laser or the simpler mechanical system of the autocannon?
@@mikedittsche but its too specialized, gepard could be used as an infantry support vehicle with strong anti light armor capability. if the laser was added as an auxiliary weapon system on the gepard then that would be good.
Clay pigeon shooting , just popped into my head on steroids..
My dad was a Pilot (MI-14) in the east german army. THAT was their worst enemy. They supposed that they would have lost 50% of all helicopters with in 3 days.
@Callsign Da sind wir doch alle froh, das es nie soweit gekommen ist. Sondern genau das Gegenteil passiert ist.
Wir Deutschen sind wieder ein Volk und mussten uns nicht bekämpfen.
Aber sag deinem Vater bitte: danke für das Kompliment. Wir wurden zwar gut ausgebildet, aber unser "worst-case-scenario" wären doch die Hubschrauber gewesen, die unerkannt und urplötzlich über den Baumwipfeln aufgetaucht wären.
Er meint sicher die Mi-24
Hätte ich ehrlich gesagt nicht gedacht, drüben hat man doch die fett gepanzerten Russengeräte wie den Mi-8 benutzt. Aber andersrum ja nur logisch, man kann ja nicht alles kugelsicher machen.
Callsign: Fieters was the Mi-14 an Anti Submarine Warfare version of the Mi-8?.
I expect that the Mi-24 Hind type helicopters would have had a higher survival rate and also different operating procedures because of its dedicated assault helicopter/gunship roles.
The predictions in the western forces where similar. For a PAH Bo105 the predicted survival time was around 20 minutes.
I think moving away from gun-based short-range anti-air weapons is a mistake. Missiles can be defeated, bullets can't. Twin 30s or even twin 25s with far more ammo on a Leo chassis could still be relevant in a modern peer-on-peer battlespace.
hmmmm, what would you use it against? It's not useful against fast jets, as they fly above its vertical range. MANPADs are more useful at the ranges it will engage helicopters, and cannons are already used in anti-missile defence (C-RAM).
I suppose downgrading it to something like 20mm to carry substantially more ammunition and using it against possible missile strikes and some low flying aircraft is an option? Or in the dual fire support role, like the Terminator? Either way, I'm guessing these systems are to support other complementary systems in securing airspace, so it's not very constructive to judge it on its own..
Matthew Bailey yeah, but we already have the C-RAM which is used for missile defence, and most ground to air fire is missiles, as they are more effective. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.
It could in effect be used as a mobile CWIS as the tech is there. You can shoot missiles with those and that would give better surviveability to your tank forces. They would also be pretty good at chewing up helicopters.
That's the British Army and the Bundeswehr's own mistake, as far as I know the M163 and Shilka are still going to be modernized and have no projected retirement date.
I just love the Gepard looks. It's such a fierce piece of hardware.
Tentacles totally agree
One of the most beautiful machines in military for sure.
Well, with UAVs (drones) becoming more common and cheaper, I guess there could be a need for such weapon systems, especially in anti-terror scenarios.
Air defense lasers are perfect for this role. They are taking over these days.
@@mikedittsche only prototypes have been made, no massproduction yet..
@@mikedittsche What about drone swarms? lasers wont be suficient.
Since Terrorism is nearly ALWAYS sponsored by Israel and the CIA, maybe we’d be better off nuking Davos, Langley, and Mossad HQ, first; then deploying them.
In hindsight you were quite right, as Ukraine recieved Gepards and are usine them as anti drone platforms
Was really fun to serve on this weapon-system!
I guess cleaning duty was fun too after a day at the range? ^_^
@@Ulvetann indeed!
Yeah, I'm 1.86m and was a gunner. Always warm ears with your knees next to them (exaggerating only ever so slightly).
@@ChristianTreber I'm only one cm shorter, so I can relate 😀
Like a lot of videos pre-2022, it becomes very clear how we all never expected another land war. I have to say, i never expected the Gepard to go to combat in Europe.
YES! SPAAG vehicles are beasts, they hold a fear factor through the roof, I think infanty is more frightened than pilots!!
Got to agree with that, limited range makes it not very effective against air, but the ability of AAA against infantry has been demonstrated during the Yugoslavian civil war, where AAA was used widely and effectively against infantry and siege situations.
Dont forget the 35mm HE Rounds... bigger impact then even IFV rounds, then twin cannon and ultra rate of fire...
I play theese things in arma in Teams vs Team, and use it mostly against enemy helicopters, light vehicles and infantry. Its a beast, but be aware of tanks.
Right, one of the actual purposes of the Gepards was to take out large amounts of Infantry. Japan has their own, newer version.
The gepard is clearly capeable taking out large amounts of infantry, but pconsider that the 35mm HE shell needs some distance to travel before it gets armed. the pure impact of 35mm would be sufficiant on huan flesh, though..
Michael Von Drake China and Japan and Russia as well as others have all designed modern SPAAG.
In China, the Type 95 has quad 25mm and quad (2 x II) manpads, and the newer Type 07 has twin 35mm and also has the capability to carry manpad type missiles.
Both have integrated fire control and detection and range finding equipment that is being modernised.
Flugabwehrkanonenpanzer. Flug = flight, wehr = defense, kanonen = cannon, , panzer = tank. Basically german words can be a conjunction of other words. Now Matsimus. Pronounce Flugabwehrkanonenpanzer. I dare you.
No don´t.
As long as this matsimus guy struggles to even say "oerlikon", you really, really don´t want him anywhere near the German language...
the7observer haha easy I'm dutch and we also have that kind of grammar
Blah b I wasn't really talking about the military names but more about how we also combine words.
the7observer basically it says anti air cannon panzer if u directly translate it u get a name in english which dont make sense
Where does the "ab" syllable come from?
a modern version of this, with the programmable 30mm Mauser cannon from the Puma IVF and modern radar from the MANTIS close air defence system, that can protect units from drones, artillery shells, mortars and bombs and rockets dropped from jets would be incredibly useful. anti air rockets just don't cut it. you can never carry enough rockets. but 30mm rounds would be plenty. you don't need to shot down high and fast flying jets, all you need to be able of doing is to create a safety bubble of 2 km around your own troops and nothing would be able to touch them. it's like they would be immune from artillery, mortars, drones and bombs. think about that.
Mar: Mauser is no longer in business since the end of WWII, the gun is made by Rheinmetall.
@@stanislavczebinski994 That's not correct; Mauser is now a part of Rheinmetall, which doesn't mean, that it doesn't exist anymore.
@@gunterkastenfrosch698 I tried to keep my reply short and simple. Yes, Mauser back then is a part of Rheinmetall now, but still: Mauser does not exist anymore. The same thing happened to a ton of companies worldwide.
@@stanislavczebinski994 Many People think, that if a company gets disbanded, it (the people) doesn't exist anymore. In the case of Mauser, there were still the same engineers, they were just working for another company.
@@gunterkastenfrosch698 Yes, but the management of the company matters as well. Maybe that's the reason why H&K sells a lot but hardly turns a profit.
Personally, I like SPAAGs more than conventional anti-air missile platforms. SPAAGs just have more personality to them, and when lowered at ground level, could make for some gnarly anti-personal fire across the battlefield.
SPAAs mow down anything short of a AFV
I like the russian ones the best with gun and missile combo that american one with m61s good too
I love that German camo!!
I need my computer back to play some Steelbeasts!!!!
nice Game... but the " Operation Flashpoint 1" Game with BW- Mod its better. More fun with BW Vehicles 😉
Pleased to say that these have had a second life in the 2022 Ukraine war with Germany donating a bunch of them to the Ukrainian forces for defending against Iranian-built drones.
Gepards needs only 20-40 shots to destroy any jet or helicopter it sees , that means it can kill up to 18 targets which is very very impressive, plus armoured group seeing 9 flyers is rare very rare (oh btw gepard has 340 rounds per cannon so its total 680 rounds)
@Lenin_Cat: and a Gepard would be never alone!
less than 10 shots was enough.
An SPAA is enough to be a detterent at least vs air.
That being said an SPAA really shines when it's mowing down infantry, something that a regular tank really isn't effecient at.
@@thebravegallade731 infantry, light armor , trucks, etc are easy targets for the Gepard.
The muzzle velocity is around 1400m/sec. How do they do that.
as a Cold War warrior operating under a mobile and static defensive doctrine against a foe whose primary aircraft were all designed in the 50s and 60s with a couple of exceptions, I think it was perfectly suited to its role, despite the ammo shortage.
I do wonder how well the MANTIS system stacks up on its Boxer mount, though.
AFAIK MANTIS 35mm has too much recoil for a wheeled chassis like the Boxer, resulting in huge accuracy loss.
Hmmm... if it had too much recoil then why stick it on a Boxer? unless they're expecting to drop supports everytime they set up to fire? but that kinda negates the whole "mobile" part of mobile AA
I was in Eloka during my army time in the 80s and we were triangulating and analyzing radar data. Whenever there was a chance we moved close to Todendorf for practizing this. We had a good time following the movements of all Gepards in the practise shooting, and could distinguish each of them by their individual radar parameters. The same we could do with the easter German, Polish and Russian AD systems. When I worked at Siemens later on I also worked briefly for the Gepard fire control system. Regarding the ammunition use: the system tracked various targets and determined a number of needed shoots to disable the threat, depending on height, speed, distance, radar reflection size and climatical parameters. It then released the calculated number of shoots and revisit the target data for changes in speed, direction, height, radar reflection changes. if e.g. radar reflection increased, speed reduced, height drastically decreased or increased, the target was kept on observed as lower threat. If distance to target still reduced, a next sequence was fired. if threat was reduced/eliminated, the next threat was elevated to threat position 1 and dealt with. In normal scenarios with asumed number of threats the ammo would not run out. E.g. for a Mi 24 the number of shoots calculated were 3 groups of 12 shoots for a almost 100% success.
Fun fact: in 1987 we had a first find of the then so called ZSU x, which was later called the Tunguska. From the radar parameters Alpha rotation time, S-band frequency) it was almost like a copy of the Gepard. When later on the satellite pictures were shown, we first thought, that a Gepard had been captured by the USSR :-)
I did my service in the german Bundeswehr as a gunner on this system at the end of the 80's. It was the most feared weapon of every helicopter and ground attack jet pilot I met (including Americans, British, French, Netherlands, Belgian). In fact, it was considered to be the only effective weapon to bring down an A-10, still one of the best, if not the best ground attacking jet plane. As every man-controlled system, its efficiency is mostly dependant on the crew (and all 3 are important!), especially in confusing situations with ground forces (tanks and infantry), helicopters and jets taking part in the battle.
The Gepard was often criticised for its "low" capacity of 640 rounds (+40 tank piercing rounds in an extra case) of 35 mm rounds, but me and every member of the Gepard-family would not agree to this. The accuracy of the weapon is 99.7 % for the first shot (declining to around 90 % for 10th of the same burst). So, in a fully radar controlled procedure, you would never miss the target and more important would never use more than 20 rounds to engage a single flying target (to be honest, in most cases we needed not more than 10 for one target in training). That means, the Gepard is capable of engaging at least 32 aircrafts in a row before it runs out of ammunition. Looking at the composition of ground attack forces with their air support consisting of helicopters and ground attack jets, considering that one Gepard was planned to protect 6 Leopards or M1 Abrams, even today this machine would provide excellent close range (up to 4 km) protection for fast moving units. Of course, there are much more effective anti-aircraft missiles nowadays, but people often forget, that these missile-system that are not capable of moving as fast and getting ready to engage a threat as quickly as the Gepard. And those which are able to escort ground forcing troops carry even fewer ammuniton than the Gepard.
I am not a fan of war and the best thing of the Gepard is, that it was never seen in real combat (so the soviets obviously had some respect :-)). But when we did our last exams (YES, the gunners of a Gepard had to pass exams during my time), there were some terrible scenarios in which we had to fight mixed-up helicopter-targets, jet-targets, tanks and troops all at once in 10 minutes while the tank was actually moving through the firing range. We had to use all modes that the tank was capable of and of course used real ammunition. It was hell (me being one of 5 passing the test from a total of 40 gunners) and that taught us all, how important it is to keep the peace and that war is only the last chance when being attacked. On the other hand, when this 10 minute war was over and I stepped on top of the turret, I could not resist to be proud of this tank, being a hallmark in anti-aircraft close combat.
"I am not a fan of war and the best thing of the Gepard is, that it was never seen in real combat,..." Well, that aged like milk.
I had the extreme pleasure to see one of these Gepards in person back in 1998. I saw it on display on a German base in Kiel, Germany. I could see Denmark across the North Sea and the water was crystal clear, absolutely beautiful!
Please do a video on the Fennek scout vehicle :)
Oh I got a heart :3 Now Im looking forward to it :D
I have spent some time on it and got various insights. So if Matsimus has some questions: Feel free to ask.
My father actually operated a few Gepards and yes; the ammo was a serious limitation. What was worse than the ammo capacity was the reload. You couldn't just slide in a new box magazin and be good to go. You had to manually feed the ammo belts into the ammo storage containers attached to the cannon from inside the turret, which was obviously small, tight and cramped. You had to do that for 2 guns and you were definetly sweat-soaked afterwards.
ich bin stolz darauf mitte der 90er in stavenhagen auf dem gepard gedient zu haben. einer der besten deutschen panzer überhaupt! schade das es ihn nicht mehr gibt :-(
Gun based tracked and armored AA vehicles are still relevant IMO. Armored formations still need organic AA defense in high threat environments against near peer adversaries. Gepards could be easily upgraded with smart ammunition and missiles like the Russian Tungusta. Drones are a new threat that are best countered with precision gun based systems. Also strike fighters will be driven to low altitudes in the presence of Patriot and S-400 missile systems.
I've seen this bad ass weapon systems in action while stationed in Germany with the U.S Army in the late 80's. I was present at a live fire exercise at Graf. Awesome system for its day.
totally badass! retired too soon. plenty of opportunity on the battlefield for such a system!
The Gepard was indeed a very impressive system..although the most impressive aspect of this system was the capability to use external Radar systems as the fire control solution delivered to the Gepard from the "HaAflüSys" C2 system. It gave the German Gepards the capability to fire whiteout activating the Search radars..I find this to be the biggest advantage of this system.
I really enjoyed watching the Gepard just spin its turret and move around like that, it's pretty damned impressive. Also like how you include clips like these in your videos, really brings out the capabilites of these vehicles.
The gun's speciality lies in the real time burst time programming of each shell, measuring their flght in the barrel and then programming each and every shell's detonating time individually using a inductive information transfer which can be seen on the end of each barrel. So all variance of charge and temperature and humidity of every bullet is compensated for, and each shell can be programmed on freshest intel , when leaving the barrel. Mantis still uses this Oerlikon Technology achievement, which increases hit probability considerably and set the state of the art then, and still, highly advanced with modern fragmentation ammo and quick sort change, Mantis even gives a chance against supersonic threats as CIWS, better than a Gatling type of gun.
Hello are you interested to make a video on the 2k22? Also known as the tunguska
The Pantsir is its successor.
Do both. Tunguska first due to chronology 🙂
Pantsir isn't that interesting since it's not armored vehicle, it's more of a static system set on trucks.
Pantsir is placed on an armored truck.I don't know whether it was counted as armored vehicle.
789know На Пурве Кишамо Pantsir has a variant on a tracked armored vehicle.
That is absolutely the coolest most badass AA tank. I'd never get rid of those. So many possibilities of destruction with that baby.
Love the look of this vehicle, twin cannons just look beastly!
Hi, thx for the video! I was gunner and driver on a Gepard B2L. Had a lot of fun with it!!!
I saw RoAF Ghepard spaags at the july airshow at the 71st Air Base, those 35s were impressive. The sound of the guns echoing back from the mountains while Puma SOCAT helicopters are providing CAS is a memory i won't easily forget
As a dakka enthusiast, self-propelled AA guns are easily my favorite vehicles to watch. Sad to see they’re fading away. I’m imagining a modern design that serves primarily as a mobile sensor station for a mechanized group, and brings some assortment of guns and/or lasers for taking out drones, missiles, and maybe the occasional low flying aircraft.
This vehicle is the main reason my country (the Netherlands) went for the CV-90 ifv. They use the same 35mm munition of which we still have massive amounts. What a reason to pick an ifv lol
Revisiting this, who knew. Know they can’t activate enough of these, and they are tweaking the radar to pick up smaller drones. I just love it, and I love your older vids.
The dutch even upgraded the gepard with their own radar and fire controll systems . called PRTL . they had about 93 of them . imagine an area the size of the netherlands and with the gepards range of 5 km they could cover the entire length of the country .
i heared rumors that the gepard is capable to destroy incoming arty shells, can this be confirmed?
and what's about missiles?
if modern spaag are capable of shielding ground units against long range engagements i don't think they ever will be futile.
Missiles, sure. Shells? Rather hard. Even modern defense Systems have problems taking out Shells since they're small AND fast.
you might enjoy the new Rheinmetall air defence system called HEL. There are videos on yt i think
The new Mantis system is capable to destroy incoming shells. And the guns of the gepard shouldnt be so different. I think with a different radar and faster computers the gepard should be able to do it too
I think its cool that it has the ground attack capability as well - in some sense carrying on the WW2+ tradition in the German army of using AA weapons effectively for use against ground targets as well (other countries have as well of course. but was particularly prominent with the Wehrmacht). great vid.
So regarding the search radars, the Dutch method would likely see a marginally worse azimuth resolution with a significantly worse altitude resolution. However the design of it would make for a reasonable improvement to sidelobe rejection making it harder to jam. Though frankly with the tracking radar making up for any azimuth and elevation ambiguity (the whole point of a tracking radar after all) and the other differences being so slight, frankly I'd imagine the choice was mostly down to the Dutch radar being smaller, harder to spot, and less likely to eat trees. Larger radars (at the same frequency) always make for better resolutions. The Dutch design uses a more modern receiver specifically designed to reduce the sidelobes in '70s aircraft. Range would be better for the Germans, but both radars will easily see to maximum range and won't get any extra distance due to the radar's design (PRF, chirp length, etc). Despite being a very common receiver design in modern civilian applications the improvements are so slight other nations likely couldn't be bothered to upgrade more than anything else.
Upgrade the sensor and tracking systems and they would make fine close in weapon systems (CIWS) for aircraft and missile defense. Being armored and mobile keeps them relevant for ground support but would probably be most useful for base defense in support of its primary role. They could continue to provide an inner layer of defense to complement longer range missile based air defense systems such as Patriot or MEADS.
Do you play warthunder, you'd enjoy playing this SPAAG
noobinator Simelane Matsimus only plays extreme hardcore milsims, he won't even play ARMA because it isn't realistic enough. I highly doubt he would ever play War Thunder.
Lourenco Almada warthunder is realistic, he should give it a try. Simulator battles or Realistic is the way to go
noobinator Simelane Like I said, he won't even play ARMA, the most successful MilSim in the world. He won't touch WT with a 10 foot pole, and I agree with him, WT has been dead to me for 3 years now. The game is great, but Gaijin keeps screwing it up with their horrible management.
Lourenco Almada implying Squad is a hard core mil sim?
noobinator Simelane Yeah, that one is the only lighter game Matsimus plays, but he says in his latest Squad video he only plays it because game is smooth and the action is intense. In WT you can go at 50km/h and be sniped from 2km away. Matsimus would RAGE at the game, I know I do...
Next to the tank, I love these type of tracked vehicles. I predict that they will/must be reintroduced to deal with the future threat from drones.
Interesting to think how deadly it is against drones now. A true new lease on life.
You may fight like the Legion
Hunt like the Leopard
But you'll never be better than the Flakpanzer Gepard
That is absolutely quality probably my favourite tank on here now on this channel
Great vid Mat, thank you so much ...
This vehicle was one of the first RC vehicles I had, back in the early 90's a friend & I converted a Standard Leopard 1 model with a handmade turret, complete with radars & guns ;)
The things we did back in the day!! lol
You could roast pigeons with the targeting radar
Matsimus did you know that right befor the Gepard was put out of service they developed a new variant (the one i the last part of your video) having 2 Stingers missiles on the side of the turret and carring a couple of missiles on the back to add some extra ammo/fast relod and also used enhanced sub caliber 35mm rounds that are fast (resulting in higher hit probability) and with 500-100m more range.
And usually a SPAAG dosen't need all that much ammo because once it makes it presence known the enemy wil try to destroy/supress it with artillery or SEAD missiles or restrain from using low flying aircraft. So you are usually not gona have the chance to use a lot of rounds but you want high rat of fire because jets are fast und helicopters just pop up and fire so with hills and trees you often just got a couple of seconds to engage.
You can see in the video at 14:15, it can have Stinger missiles attached to the sides of the guns. The Stingers are connected to the main radar. That's some additional level of firepower, you can use those at long range and use the guns for shorter range engagements, thus conserving ammo.
I saw them in Action at the Putlos range in 1986, at night (tracers!!!) against a towed target (a sack with a microphone towed behind a Bronco). The only drawback was that we didn't have any beer and Popcorn back then. Best Show ever!
Same here. We fired our Vulcans while the Germans fired the Gepard. Then we went to Todendorf for the aerial portion of qualifications. This thing was deadly accurate.
Externally mounted weapons suggests the possibility of outside magazine augmentation of onboard ammo stocks. Not in the field, perhaps, but in lagers and airfields, where support vehicles can be brought alongside.
Great video. It might be good to mention that the ammo is programmed when leaving the barrel. But still, accurate and good.
Germany: Look at the Gepard - it is a beautiful masterpiece!
Also Germany: Let's replace it with a Wiesel...
7:48 i love how the 2 wiesel scoot around and leave the scene and in comes this monster from the left just looks cool i think
You can fight like a legion, hunt like a leopard, but you'll never be better than a Flakpanzer Gerpard.
aahhh, my childhood.
I had the Tamiya 1/35 scale model of this.
Yep me too.
Same here, built it when I was in the military (Gepard gunner)
It looks so gracefully
Hello Matsimus thanks for talking about the flakpanzer gepard, but can you talk about the Type 87 SPAA there designs are similar but I want to know more about the Type 87 SPAA
You didn't talk about the fact that the Gepard can be outfitted with missiles. (Making it able to stay in it's role, for longer, and propably making it more deadly)
Saw a couple of the Belgian Gepards live fire in Ostende in 1987, quite impressive.
Looks like they are at Berminhoffen, Germany. I use to drive my HET up to the sea transporting Avengers and Linebackers for stinger missile practice.
13:55 As someone who's played it lately in WarThunder. I 100% agree.
Even with very limited bursts it goes very quick.
gotta love AAA. Thanks for sharing
Umberto Fournier thanks for watching :)
yes!!!!! This system is what the U.S. has needed for ages!!! Lead can't be jammed!
In the Netherlands we had a alternative version with different radar of this called PRTL (Pantser Rups Tegen Luchtdoelen; En: Armoured tracked vehicle against air targets), its nickname was Pruttel (en: simmer). Not the best name for this magnificent weapon system...
Edit: sorry made this comment before viewing the complete video....
You could make the case that similar systems are still in use.
Type 87 in Japan with identical armament and a nearly identical turret, ditto the PZA Loara with a much better tracking and search radar.
The korean K30 Biho, has 2x 30mm although on a smaller IFV derived chassis with only 300 rpg.
Awesome that you talked about the Dutch Cheetah name, as a dutchie I'm always glad to hear about our (little) military :D
Hebben wij dan nog een leger???
Yes, I was a PRTL/stinger weapon system specialist back then. in the 80ties
The Dutch one called the PRTL.. Pantser Rups Tegen Luchtdoelen..armoured tracks against air targets..and if i remember well it had 2x25mm oerlikons on the body of a Leopard..
The last part of this video's commentary has not aged well with the widespread adoption of drones.
So keep watching social networks, the Gepard arrived at the frontlines in Ukraine.
Small bummer here: You were interested how the Gepard deals with modern "targets" - which the russians don`t have... But still.
In the late 70s I watched the Gepard fire five round at a towed target, FIAT G-91 tow. It fired two 5-round bursts, the second knocked the target off the cable. Geoff Who assumes a Russian Mig would have been a bit more difficult.
Outstanding gun for use against fortified defenses, infantry and artillery positions. In today's world can also put down a few helicopters. I think it has an outstanding fire power. It should be updated and mounted on a Leopard 2Ax chasis. Cheers.
I'm am pleased with the love you're showing the Dutch in this video... and similarly displeased with the Dutch government getting rid of them,- and all other tanks we had..
This system was designed in the sixties of the last century to fight the MiG 15 and MIG 17. Now I think it is good to drop reconnaissance aircraft and Mil mi 8 helicopters and helicopters not armed with missiles March
Sorry Matsimus, i cant follow your critisim with the ammo. The Gepard had 320 rounds AA ammo per gun on one belt plus 20 rounds AT ammo per gun on the outside mag. The Crew could swap ammo at the push of a button from their control pad. Unlike you stated the Gepard would use around six rounds burst on air targest ( 3 from each gun) before corecting and making a second burst. So even with three burst on one target you would put 18 rounds out in total from 640 in the magazine. That would last for 35 air targets. I was an AA Gunsmith in the german army. (Brace yourself: Flugabwehrkanonenmechaniker). Each gun had two booster shovling that big 320 rounds belt up to the gun. I dont think lack of ammo was an issue. Regards Yours Malte.
I'm looking so much forward for the mounted Mantis SPAAG!
The Flakpanzer is obsolete obviously. It might kill helicopters easily still.
The Mantis was designed with a different role and more for high value target protection (military camps, strategic locations, ships) and at least the stationary version can hit flying artillery shells, mortar rounds and most missiles.
If the mobile variant lives up to these standards it has the potential to alter armored battles for German tanks (not that they battle anything apart of lacking funding and mong soldiers) a lot. Sure it won't always work but imagine how much more effective tanks get again of those nasty Javelin missiles and all those other anti tank missiles _could_ be shot down.
And the Mantis still fills the AA role but not with a way more appropriate cannon and probably the best targeting computer available.
They really should mount a MANTIS on a Puma chassis (i think they had plans for that, aswell for a Puma recovery vehicle). AFAIK the Boxer chassis can't hold all the recoil of a 35mm resulting in accuracy loss. However the dutch already field a Boxer AA i41.tinypic.com/24mrehx.jpg but i don't think it's a 35mm though.
Good for shooting infantry too (A) just needs a lil ammo trailer running behind it lol
Man, that intro clip...I've never seen $10,000 spent so well. That was quite a sexy demonstration. ;)
Good job! Agree that the ammo load is too small. Also there is a combination of 2 problems. The armor cannot protect against the most common threat from the air - 20-30mm cannons (you said it can protect up to 14.5 mm), and the effective range of its guns is less than the range of many helicopter-borne weapons, such as the Hellfire. So, the helicopter can stand off outside the ability of the Gepard's ability to engage, and still launch weapons that will kill the Gepard. On the plus side, the MV is impressively high at 4700 ft/sec - higher than the GAU8's 30mm, but the GAU8 fires proportionately heavier shells to penetrate armor. At 4700 ft/sec, it should be able to engage the target as the target departs. The most important issue for being effective is how well the targeting systems works, in my opinion. In theory, a perfect targeting system would allow 100% of the shells to hit. If they are even close to that, the ammo load is plenty, but the exhibitions are showing bursts that are seconds long.
I'm on a car ride with bad internet rn, but I can't wait to watch.
This Video needs an update.
The case of active duty for the Gepard is raging on in Ukrain.
It seems only useful against helicopters and ground vehicles, as fighter and attack planes have missiles with much longer ranges than what these guns are capable of, not to mention they aren't as constrained by altitude, so if they are right above this thing, but too high for the rounds to make it, the planes can still destroy the tank but not vice versa. And even then, modern attack helicopters have missiles with longer ranges than these guns do as well, so you are really counting on the enemy either being overwhelmed, out of missiles, or blind.
It's still really cool though, that turret rotation is fucking sexy.
Does anyone think that this vehicle is designed mainly for anti infantry purpose? The AA ability is just secondary but it bears that name because using these 35mm against soldiers would sound nominally to cruel.
ZSU-23-4 Shilka's were used in the syrian conflict in that role by getting the vehicle in an downward angled position by moving it up a mound. One does not want to be anywhere near its target zone as an infantry man.
12:04 For a non-frontline AFV, that is quite thick armor. I expected armor to be rated only against small armors fire and indirect fire like most SPAAGs and SPGs.
What?!, A big, supercharged V10 with dry-sump lubrication, Pretty much a race car!
Great Video! I disagree with what you said at 07:11 - it wasn't boring - a lot of us watching are engineers :) On a serious note, can someone explain why the US didn't simply purchase - or perhaps build under license - the wonderful Gepard rather than the very disappointing M247 Sergeant York? Granted, the Sgt York had twin 40 mm Bofors with AP and proximity rounds, but it seems the Gepard was far superior. Thanks!
Fight like the lion, stealth like the leopard, you'll never be better than
FlakPanzer Gepard.
PRTL , pantser rups tegen lucht doelen , the 35 mm oerlikon cannons had one major flaw , off factory they system was so precise that both barrels at distance fired their projectiles thru the same hole , meaning that shooting with two barrels was completely pointles , parctice was ( unofficialy) to take a sledgehammer to one of the barrels to make it where at distance you would get 2 streams of projectiles side by side hitting a target instead of one stream going thru the same hole. source of information : myself lichting 89-3 115 divverbbedcie had a support function in a drill with them , totally awesome !!!!!!!
i must add that you dont need to hit the barrel hard , a minor tap at the barrels end can result in a few foot appart at distance if not several !!!!
The initial phase of a conflict would be so brutal that lines would collapse to pockets. This vehicle may not carry a large load of ammunition but it is easier to resupply when lines of supply are stretched thin. It could very well outlast it's missile armed counterparts as far as readiness is concerned.
I can see its usefulness on the battlefield man all this technology i cant imagine a foot solder chances it whose bad enough when i served back in the 70s and 80s
I stood close to one at an airshow, it is a really impressive Tank
Pretty much explains why in the first place it was withdrawn from service. Lack of higher ammo capacity. It is very interesting design, very well too. There are also a good applications for this anti aircraft tanks one is for a long distance anti personnel capability. Which today regional wars most are confronting infantry kind of enemies. 35mm with anti personnel very effective neutralize enemies at far distnce although it will have almost same range as
12.7mm GPHM but 35 mm high rate of range and explosive ammo had much effective to take out lightly armed opposition. its also good mobility support in case of the delay of helo gunships at the moment its most needed this tank can take a back up support role in case of absence of air gunship support.in of anti insurgency on long distance difficult terrain a small base camp would be a good suppression for any enemies that uses the high elevation lets of mountain to their tactical advantage to attack such base. With this tank it can surely throw a lot of high explosive munition with in its twin 35mm guns effective range.
Technically speaking it is still can be fitted with a heavily protected ammo box on its rear which can carry extra say 600-700rds and it can be design to unload the empty externally empty ammo box like the same system use by box truck freight to unload load their freights. The back of the tank where the ext box ammo rest will also be design with an acces from the crew to feed the extarnal ammo thru synchronization feed from internal to external without much interferance from the crew. I think this can take the extra load its chassi base on leopard mbt so it will keep up. Just like in ww2 they put external fuel tanks under the P series mustangs fighter aircraft to extend it flight support role for the bombers. Sorry it wasn't intended for going back to bad memories of time just to make one example of good retrofitting i may say.
Matsimus, The goal of these weapons was to take out low flying attack aircraft and aircraft forced down to low level by the anti-aircraft missiles. The cannon is still the king of aircraft engagement at low level protecting static positions and fast moving armored formations.
That's no ad filmed on a potato that's the firepower TV show. Which was awesome for it's time .
I am sure the Ukranians are happy to have the Gepards against russian and Iranian drones with the effective 35mm cannons! Surely the Gepards must have ammo trucks nearby to resupply when they are out, question is how quickly the resupply can be done and how fast the manufacture of the ammo can be done. War is gained or lost on logistics.
I want to install the turret on top of my house and run some remote control surface down to my lazy boy, I'm sure I'll need a way to depress those auto cannons a little lower to be able to cover the front and back lawns but I think it would be worth the effort. I'd also need to up the ammo hooked up to a couple 10's of thousands in on of the spare bedrooms.