ISAF/OEF[edit]
In October 2003, Canada was planning to replace its
Leopard C2s with wheeled
Stryker Mobile Gun Systems. However, operational experience in
Afghanistan, and in particular during
Operation Medusa, convinced the
Canadian military of the usefulness of maintaining a tank fleet.
[18] Leopard C2s were deployed to Kandahar in December 2006,
[19] but they were by then almost 30 years old, and were nearing the end of their operational life. The Canadian government decided to borrow 20 Leopard 2A6s and three
armoured recovery vehicles from Germany for rapid deployment to Afghanistan. In late August 2007, the first Leopard 2s were airlifted into Afghanistan to equip
Lord Strathcona's Horse (Royal Canadians).
[20]
In an assault on 2 November 2007, a Leopard 2A6M hit an
IED and survived without casualties: "My crew stumbled upon an IED (improvised explosive device) and made history as the first (crew) to test the (Leopard 2A6) M-packet. It worked as it should." wrote a Canadian officer in an email to German defence officials.
[21] Canadian Chief of the Defence Staff General
Rick Hillier denied reports that a Leopard II tank that was struck by an IED was a write-off, insisting that the tank has been repaired and is once again in use. "The Taliban have been engaged with some of the new Leopard II tanks in several ambushes" and that as a result the Taliban "learned some very harsh lessons" and lost the battle in question "very quickly and very violently."
[22]
In October 2007, Denmark also deployed its Leopard 2A5 DKs in support of operations in southern Afghanistan. The Danish tank unit, drawn from the first battalion of the
Jydske Dragonregiment (Jutland Dragoons Regiment),
[23] was equipped with three tanks and one
M113 armoured personnel carrier, with an armoured recovery vehicle and another tank kept in reserve.
[24] The Danish version of the Leopard 2A5 is fitted with Swedish-made Barracuda camouflage mats, that serve to limit the absorption of solar heat, thus reducing infrared signature and interior temperature.
[23] It also has a conventional driver's seat bolted on the floor of the tank, wherereas in the Canadian 2A6M (as part of the mine-protection package) the driver's seat has been replaced by a "Dynamic Safety Seat",
[25] which is a parachute-harness like arrangement that the driver wears around his hip. Six large belts hold him in the right position. In this way, the driver does not have any contact with the hull except on the pedals and is out of the shockwave area of exploding land mines or IEDs.
In January 2008, Danish tanks halted a flanking maneuver by Taliban forces near the
Helmand River by providing gunfire in support of Danish and
British infantry from elevated positions.
[26] On 26 February 2008, a Danish Leopard 2 was hit by an explosive device, damaging one track. No one was injured and the tank returned to camp on its own for repairs.
[27] The first fatality suffered by a crew operating a Leopard 2 happened on 25 July 2008. A Danish Leopard 2A5 hit an IED in
Helmand Province. The vehicle was able to continue 200 metres (656 ft) before it halted. Three members of the four-man crew were able to escape even though wounded, but the driver was stuck inside. On site treatment by Danish medics could not save him. The vehicle was towed to FOB Attal and then later to FOB Armadillo for investigation and possible redeployment. During the same contact with Taliban forces, a second tank was caught in an explosion but none of the crew were wounded.
[28] Beginning on December 7, 2008, Leopard 2 tanks took part in
Operation Red Dagger, firing 31 rounds in support of Coalition troops as they recaptured
Nad Ali District. A press release from the British
Ministry of Defence praised the tank's fire accuracy and mobility, claiming the Leopard 2 was a decisive factor in the coalition's success.[
citation needed]Danish Leopard 2A5s are, as of 2013, still in Afghanistan, providing security cover for the withdrawal of British and NATO troops.
[29]
