We do not sell any of the items showcased on this site. Material presented throughout this website is for historical and entertainment value only and should not to be construed as usable for hardware restoration, maintenance, or general operation. All written content, illustrations, and photography are unique to this website (unless where indicated) and not for reuse/reproduction in any form. trademarks protected by all applicable domestic and international intellectual property laws. ![]() The "Military Factory" name and logo are registered ® U.S. Military Pay Chart Military Ranks DoD Dictionary Conversion Calculators Military Alphabet Code Military Map Symbols Belgium and Chile have joined Germany and the Netherlands in retiring the platform in full. The armies of Brazil (ex-German stock), Jordan (ex-Dutch stock), and Romania (ex-German stock) still utilize the Gepard system. The Dutch version fitted a different radar system than the German offering but lost little of its lethality. ![]() The German Army retired its last Gepard systems in 2010 to make room for a new, more modern solution based on the GTK "Boxer" multi-role wheeled vehicle. Operational range was out to 340 miles and maximum road speeds could reach 40 miles-per-hour. As the Gepard relied on the Leopard 1 chassis, the driver's positioned was at front-right - the commander and gunner in the traversing turret.Ĭross-country travel was aided by a full torsion bar suspension system. Four track-return rollers were featured along each hull side to help drive the track links about. This involved seven rubber-tired roadwheels to each hull side with the drive sprocket at rear and the track idler at front. Beyond this, the vehicle carried 76mm smoke grenade dischargers in twin banks of four launchers each mounted at the lower sides of the turret for "self-screening" measures.Īrmor protection was of conventional steel, giving it resistance against small arms, artillery "spray", and some larger-caliber weapons.ĭrive power was from a single MTU 10-cylinder, multi-fuel engine outputting 830 horsepower to a conventional track-and-wheel arrangement. The weapons were 2 x 35mm Oerlikon GDF automatic cannons with the onboard ammunition stock being a mix of Anti-Aircraft (AA) (320 projectiles each gun) and Anti-Tank (AT) (20 projectiles each gun) to make the vehicle as versatile as possible - especially considering the enemy-of-the-day was the Soviet Union and its massive tank-centric army. ![]() The vehicle weighed 52.5 tons (short) and had an overall length of 25 feet, width of 12 feet, and a height of 10.9 feet (with the radar unit retracted). The turret fitted a complete Fire Control System (FCS), full tracking-and-search radar functionality, and its guns were capable of 550 rounds-per-minute rate-of-fire with a maximum, effective range out to about 3,500 meters (approximately 2.2 miles). A separate powerpack was also included to drive the onboard tracking system. The automotive components of the Gepard retained the same powerpack of the Leopard 1 MBT and was operated by a crew of three comprising of a driver, commander, and gunner. The primary purpose of the system was in combating low-flying ground attack craft and helicopters featured by the Soviet Union and Eastern Bloc nations. It featured twin-35mm autocannons in a traversing turret and could fire a variety of air-exploding ammunition including APHE (Armor-Piercing High Explosive) and HEI (High Explosive Incendiary) rounds. The Gepard Flakpanzer, a tracked, Self-Propelled Anti-Aircraft Gun (SPAAG) platform arriving from West Germany during the Cold War, was built atop the existing - and proven - chassis of the Leopard 1 Main Battle Tank (MBT) and served mobile anti-aircraft artillery battalions of the West.
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