Leopard 1 tank modified with Skyranger 35 air defense system has entered service in Ukraine

The Leopard 1 combat vehicle is equipped with the Sky Raider 35 anti-aircraft gun and is already in service with the Ukrainian army. (Taken from RheinmetallX)

[Reporter Tu Jumin/Comprehensive Report] The German-made "Leopard 1" combat vehicle that came out during the Cold War is still very useful. The latest footage released by the Ukrainian military recently shows that the 1020th Air Defense Missile Regiment of the Ukrainian Army has received the first batch of Skyranger 35 short-range air defense systems modified from the "Leopard 1" combat vehicle chassis. This tank, which has been in service for more than a century, has returned to the battlefield and is specialized in shooting down low-altitude threats such as drones.

The German military industry giant Rheinmetall confirmed in October last year that it would provide the Skyranger 35, a tracked chassis version of the "Leopard 1", to Ukraine. The contract value amounts to hundreds of millions of euros, which will be paid for by an unnamed EU country from the proceeds from freezing Russian assets. Production and system integration will be carried out by Rheinmetall Italy in Rome.

The Leopard 1 combat vehicle is equipped with the Sky Raider 35 anti-aircraft gun and is already in service with the Ukrainian army. (Taken from online video)

Skyranger 35 is equipped with a KDG 35/1000 rotating cannon, which uses 35mm ammunition with a rate of fire of 1,000 rounds per minute and an effective range of 4,000 meters. It can also use AHEAD air-burst ammunition to explode near enemy air targets and release a large number of tungsten secondary projectiles, improving the probability of intercepting high-speed drones such as the "Witness" series and FPV. In the future, missiles can be integrated to make the combat capability even more powerful.

It is worth noting that the "Leopard 1" tank is a veritable veteran of the Cold War. West Germany began research and development in the late 1950s. The first mass-produced tank was delivered to the Bundeswehr in September 1965. It was equipped with a 105 mm tank gun. The German army operated more than 2,400 tanks and upgraded them all the way to the Leopard 1A5. It was not officially retired from service until 2003.

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However, the "Leopard 1" tank has not gone into history. To date, more than 4,700 tanks have been produced and are still used in nine countries on five continents. Ukraine has also received refurbished Leopard 1A5s from European countries since 2023, and now it has been replaced with a Skyranger 35 turret, transforming this tank that came out 60 years ago into a mobile air defense platform.