Download or read book Leopard 1 Main Battle Tank 1965–95 written by Michael Jerchel and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2012-11-20 with total page 114 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Development of the Leopard 1 can be traced back to November 1956, when the operational requirement for a new battle tank was formulated by the Federal German Armed Forces (Bundeswehr). Originally a Franco-German project, the tank under design was named the 'Standard-Panzer'. The French later dropped out, however, and on 1 October 1963 the 'Standard' tank was officially named 'Leopard', an appropriate choice considering Germany's wartime pedigree with the formidable Tiger and Panther. This book traces the development and service record of the Leopard 1, detailing its control systems, modifications and variants.