„Der Panzer hat 52 Drohnentreffern standgehalten.“ Wie ukrainische Leopard 1 verteidigt und bekämpft werden (Artikel mit detaillierten Modifikationen, Einsatzgeschichten und vielen Fotos) [5th Heavy Mechanized Brigade, April 2026]

Some excerpts:

>*“We received tanks that were effective in the 70s and 80s. Although the fire control system here is already from the Leopard 2. Thanks to it, we can work at longer ranges much more efficiently and accurately,“* says Vyacheslav Khodak, call sign „Spartan“, a company commander in the 1st Tank Battalion, who has been fighting as a tanker since the ATO.

>The officer notes that with the Leopard’s reverse speed of 26 km/h, Ukrainian troops would have been able to conduct assault and defensive operations much more effectively in the first years of the war.

>*“If we had such tanks in 2022, it would perhaps have changed the course of this war a little. We wouldn’t have had to crawl 40 km/h on a T-64 or T-72. German vehicles reach speeds of up to 63 km/h. The same with rolling back, when during the counteroffensive in Zaporizhia we crawled out of the shell in reverse on Soviet tanks at only 5 km/h,“* the officer recalls.

>*“Just in February, one of our tanks withstood 52 hits from Molniya drones and conventional FPVs. The enemy discovered our tank in position and began to fire at it continuously. The tank was hit for almost a day. One FPV hit, and the other corrected. Then a third one flew in and everything was repeated. The Russians waited for the crew to come running, but it was in cover. As soon as it became quiet, the tankers, without hesitation, ran in broad daylight, started the engine and drove the tank out from under the enemy’s nose.*

Also shows that we only see 10-20% of the drone hits, as most are unsuccessful. The solution of course, like Ukraine is doing, is to have professional drone corps, battalion level and to produce 10k drones per day or more.