Introduction
The following introduction is taken from the Tankograd website:
On 05 May 2017, the Bundeswehr and Krauss-Maffei Wegmann (KMW) signed a contract for the combat capability upgrade of 20 in-service Leopard 2A7s to the 2A7V design standard, as well as the production and delivery of 84 additional Leopard 2A7V tanks between 2020 and 2023. As was the case with the 2A7, the comprehensive modifications to the 2A7V - which primarily affect the areas of protection, mobility, controllability, endurance and firepower - consist of both performance-enhancing measures and complementary ones.
This publication shows the Leopard main battle tank in its most modern combat upgrade configuration 2A7V for the very first time in service and in great technical detail.
Review
This offering from Tankograd Publishing is a soft backed book, looking at the Leopard 2A7 and authored by Ralph Zwilling. The book as a decent thickness glossy card cover, protecting 80 glossy pages within. This cover with reasonable handling does the job of keeping this book and the series as a whole in a good condition for many years. This release from Tankograd is one of their dual language titles, with German on the left and English on the right where applicable.
The contents of this title are presented as follows:
The New German Main Battle Tank
Commissioning and Vehicle Handover
V- Improvements in detail
Leopard 2A7V Hull
Leopard 2A7V Chassis
Leopard 2A7V Powerpack
Leopard 2A7V Central Hydraulic System - Pre-heating/ Heating System
Leopard 2A7V Fire Warning and Suppression System
Leopard 2A7V Drivers Compartment Cooling System
Leopard 2A7V SPECTUS II Drivers Assistance System
Leopard 2A7V Electrical System
Leopard 2A7V Auxiliary Power Unit
Leopard 2A7V Turret
Leopard 2A7V Sights
Leopard 2A7V EMES 15A2 Main Sight
Leopard 2A7V FEROZ18A7 Auxiliary Sight
Leopard 2A7V PERI R17A3 Panoramic Sight
Leopard 2A7V Fire Control Computer
Leopard 2A7V Field-Zeroing System
Leopard 2A7V Armament
Leopard 2A7V Ammunition
Leopard 2A7V Air Defence Machine Gun
Leopard 2A7V Coaxial Machine Gun
Leopard 2A7V Smoke Discharger System
Leopard 2A7V Combined Cooling and NBC System
Leopard 2A7V Fire Suppression System
Leopard 2A7V Radio and Inter Communication System
Leopard 2A7V IFIS
Leopard 2A7V Navigation System
Leopard 2A7V DARKAS Gunfire Simulator
Leopard 2A7V Crew Stations
Leopard 2A7V Technical Data
The Leopard 2A7V is the latest in the Leopard tank family, and I will be honest and say that unless your are minutely familiar with the latest Leopard tank variations you will be hard pushed to indentify what has changed. The book itself can be considered as a brief introduction to this latest member of the Leopard tank family, and then a surprisingly intense and minute familiararity with previous vehicles. Picking out the differences was impossible for me. After the brief introduction to the vehicle you are presented with a number of action shots, showing the Leopard 2A7V going through its paces. The quality of the photographs is of the usual very high standards I have come to expect from Tankograd Publications. Also along with each of the photos, are captions in both German and English that as a modeller I appreciate. What I particularly like about the action shots, is how it shows how the dirt, and material on which the tank is moving are thrown up and settle on to weather the tank.
The rest of this title can be considered as an up-close walk-around of this new tank in the German military. Tankograd has provided written sections, again in both German and English of varying lengths. Not every sub-section is provided with a photograph, but you are provided with written information on the subject. The photographs are again of a very high quality and clearly cover the aspect of the vehicle the section is covering. Of particular note were two images that provided close ups of the tracks, and clearly showing the difference between clean tracks and those that have had mud and debris collected on them. For the modeller who is looking to super detail one of these new Leopard 2A7Vs that have been released, I cannot think of a better title to seek out and obtain than this offering from Tankograd. This is due to everything I would expect to be covered and more being provided over the 80 pages that make up this title.
Conclusion
This offering is a truly stunning example of how good Tankograd are at covering subjects. The range of areas closely covered in this title is particularly impressive in this case, and I do not believe it would be possible to obtain reference material of this quality and quantity for anything like the price of this release. For the modeller with a Leopard 2A7 in their future, or for that matter even a pure interest in the Leopard tank family, this book is an absolute must in my opinion and I cannot think of any reason why somebody would be disappointed with their purchase.