Overview
- A Ukrainian unit reported that a modernized Leopard 1A5 was struck 52 times by attack drones yet stayed mobile, and the crew later drove it out with no injuries.
- The unit said Russian operators sent drones in sequence to adjust aim for follow-up hits, using first-person-view and Molnija kamikaze models to try to disable the tank.
- Crews have added a turret cage nicknamed a hedgehog, metal bars and chains over the engine, side mesh screens, and reactive armor to blunt blasts and foul drone rotors.
- Because these add-ons block direct sight, teams mounted thermal cameras around the turret and send those feeds over Starlink to command posts for wider situational awareness.
- The brigade now fires some Leopards from covered positions at long range and prefers them to older Soviet tanks, while Germany says it has supplied 103 Leopard 1A5s that were repaired and updated, including fire-control upgrades reported by the unit; the 52-hit account comes from Mezha and has not been independently verified.