The Leopard 2A6 main battle tank is a further development of the 2A5.The Leopard 2A6 and its variants are currently in service with Germany, Canada, Greece, Netherlands, Portugal and Spain. Armor protection was improved. The Leopard 2A6 is protected by composite armor of new generation and has external modular armor. Furthermore add-on armor, including explosive reactive armor blocks can be fitted. Interior of the tank is lined to prevent spalling. The Leopard 2A6 tank is armed with the Rheinmetall 120-mm L55 smoothbore gun, which is longer version of the L44, used on the Leopard 2A5. It has better fire accuracy and longer range, comparing with the 2A5 tank. It is worth mentioning that the L55 gun can be fitted on any Leopard 2 MBT without any significant changes. This gun is loaded manually and is compatible with standard NATO ammunition. The longer barrel allows ammunition to attain higher velocities.
A total of 42 rounds are carried and 15 of them are ready to use, while the rest are stored in front of the hull. The Leopard 2A6 has a hunter-killer engagement capability. The commander uses a panoramic sight to search for targets. Once the target is selected the gun is laid on the target automatically and the gunner completes al the aiming and firing process. During that time commander looks for the next target. Such engagement method allows to acquire and engage targets faster. Currently it is present on most main battle tanks, however back in the early 2000s many contemporary tanks lacked this capability.
