Leopard-1A5 Tank Destroyed by Drone-guided Artillery in Ukraine

Ukraine’s German-made Leopard-1A5 has been destroyed by drone-guided artillery shells in the Kupyansky operational direction.

The vehicle was discovered by a reconnaissance copter of the Russian Army which gave its coordinates to an artillery unit at the rear.

A few more seconds later a high-explosive fragmentation shell fired from a 152 mm gun detonated within a couple of meters of the tank crippling it.

Images and videos have appeared online showing the tank being hit and it hatches open indicating that the crew may have escaped.

Significantly, the Russian MoD has so far not reported this incident.

Several heavy high-speed fragments of 152-mm shells must have hit the the 30 - 30-mm side armor plates of the Leopard-1A5 hull, or have a critical armor effect on the crew of the vehicle, damaging the tracked tracks and immobilizing the vehicle.

The Leopard-1A5 is one of the oldest tanks donated to Ukraine by its Western backers. Some observers have commented as to why the tank was moving about in broad daylight in an environment of hightened Russian aerial reconnaissance.