Leopard 2

A Leopard 2A6 in real life, firing its main gun.

The Leopard 2 is a German main battle tank built by Krauss-Maffei Wegmann GmbH & Co KG based in Munich, Germany. The tank has been in service since 1979 and has seen a number of variants and upgrades since its inception. It is also used by nearly all of the western European countries as well as Greece, Turkey, Singapore, and Canada.

The most recent variant, the Leopard 2A6, features the Rheinmetall L55 smoothbore 120mm cannon, which an  upgrade over the previous L44 used on the M1A2 Abrams. The vehicle is also armed with a coaxial MG3 on the German version, with the Dutch and Swiss versions mounting the FN MAG and the MG 87 respectively. The top-mounted machine gun is usually the same as the coaxial one, but it can also be replaced with the M2 Browning for added firepower in urban environments.

Battlefield 2

L2A6
Used by	European Union
Crew	Driver Machinegunner (2 total)
Speed	Moderate
Maneuvering	Medium
Health	1000
Armor type	Heavy
Disable threshold	10.1%
Driver Weapons
Primary weapon	Rheinmetall L/55 120mm smoothbore cannon
Damage	500-1 (direct impact) 125 (explosion over a radius of 5 m)
Fire mode	Single-shot
Rate of fire	30 rpm (in-game file) ~20 rpm (practical)
Reload time	~3 seconds
Ammunition	1 (per magazine) 40 (total)
Secondary weapon	MG3A1
Damage	50-0.2
Fire mode	Automatic
Rate of fire	600 rpm
Reload time	0.1 seconds (in-game file)
Ammunition	Unlimited
Gunner weapons
Primary weapon	M2HB
Damage	100-0.2
Fire mode	Automatic
Rate of fire	450 rpm
Ammunition	Unlimited
Customization
Countermeasures	Smoke grenade launchers
Camouflage	Woodland Desert

The L2A6 is a vehicle featured in Battlefield 2: Euro Force as the main battle tank of the European Union alongside the Challenger 2. It is one of the two EU counterparts to the USMC/SEALs M1A2 Abrams, the MEC T-90, and the PLA Type 98. The difference between the MBTs are almost purely aesthetic, and all of them possess the same armor, damage, rate of fire, and velocity stats, among other things.

The MBTs are the heaviest land vehicles available to any of the factions. Its main role is ground vehicular superiority on the map, and is the spearhead of land warfare. Armed with an Rheinmetall L/55 cannon as its primary weapon, the L2A6 is capable of doing significant damage to all manners of vehicle and infantry, although its slow rate of fire and inability to aim at a particularly steep angle make it unsuited to combat against aerial vehicles. However, it can still engage low-and-slow-flying helicopters effectively, especially if the gunner is skilled enough, and the helicopter is caught off guard. The shells fired by the cannon are devastating, as it is capable of destroying light vehicles outright, while armored vehicles take 2-4 shots, depeding on where the shot landed. The shells also have a good blast radius at 5 m, which is the same as those of TV missiles fired by the gunner of an attack helicopter. This stat is shared across all other MBTs in the game. As a secondary weapon, the L2A6 is armed with a coaxial MG3A1 which is capable of killing an infantryman in just two rounds under most conditions, but lacks the punch of the main cannon and has no explosive filling. The Rheinmetall L/55 is equipped with only forty rounds to start, while the secondary weapon has infinite ammunition. However, the main cannon is limited only by the speed of the reload and the limited reserve ammunition, while the coaxial machinegun has an overheat threshold where it will temporarily cease to be usable once overheated.

The passenger is armed with an M2HB, this one cupola-mounted, identical to the M2HB mounted on the HMMWV and DPV, whose damage is higher than the coaxial MG's - at 100 damage, making it a one-hit kill under the right conditions - but whose rate of fire is noticeably lower than the MG3A1's.

As with the other MBTs, the L2A6 has smoke grenade dischargers which can be launched by the driver to break line of sight, should the player need to retreat or get around the enemy.

The L2A6 has a slight advantage, shared with the M1A2 Abrams, over the other tanks in that its weakest point (under the turret) is almost completely protected by the tank's armor, and is only exposed when the cannon is aimed upward. However, it is slightly larger than the other tanks (apart from the Challenger 2), making it a bigger target.

Appearances
Multiplayer	Great Wall - 32-player variant only, woodland camouflage Taraba Quarry - all variants, desert camouflage

Gallery

Battlefield 2: Modern Combat

Leopard 2A5
Used by	European Union
Speed	Medium-low
Maneuvering	Low
Armor type	High
Driver Weapons
Primary weapon	L55 120mm cannon
Fire mode	Single-shot
Ammunition	1 (100 total)
Gunner weapons
Primary weapon	M2 Browning
Fire mode	Fully automatic
Rate of fire	450 rpm
Ammunition	1000 rounds
Customization
Camouflage	Arctic

In Battlefield 2: Modern Combat, the Leopard 2A5 is the main battle tank of the European Union, alongside the T-90. The Leopard performs nearly identically to the USMC M1A2 Abrams and differs only in size as its turret is a bit larger than the Abrams's. The Leopard has two positions, a driver and a gunner. The driver has 100 rounds for the main gun while the gunner has 1000 rounds for the top-mounted M2 Browning.

The tank can easily destroy light vehicles and even light tanks as long as the driver watches out for their top mounted rocket launcher. Against enemy main battle tanks, the driver should either try to ambush the other or fire and maneuver around their target. Helicopters have the advantage against the Leopard, but if they fly low enough, they can be hit by the tank's main gun and brought down easily. Engineers also pose a threat with their anti-tank mines and rocket launchers and should be avoided.

The Leopard is seen in the mission Rolling Thunder along with the T-90 as the European Union's main battle tank. These are useful when taking out the Type 98 tanks in the very end of the mission

Appearances
Multiplayer	Cold Front Missile Crisis

Leopard 2A5 from the PS2 version of BF2 Modern Combat.