Hello all,

The thread concerning the Gepard reminded me of an old Armies & Weapons magazine I have somewhere in the garage...

Anyway, there's an article circa 1980 that Saudi Arabia purchased several AA tanks that were Gepard turret/M-60 hull hybrids.

Anyone know anything about this??? Any photos anywhere? Would make a cool model if someone could verify.

I don't remember that one. You're not thinking of the defunct "DAVIDS" with the radar guided twin 30mm or 40mm turret on the M48 hull that the US Army was testing are you? Tamiya even did a kit of it.

Jerry

Never heard of that combination. The Saudis have some variety of AD, incl Crotale, Patriot, HAWK, M-163 (on M113 and V-150) , AMX twin 30's, and another AMX 30 chassis with two 3packs of missiles (can;t recall the name), GDF twin 35's.. plus some MANPADS (probably Stinger?) But among those, nothing on an M60 hull or a Gepard Turret. Closest thing there would be the AMX 30 DCA, but even that would be a stretch to confuse with a Gepard turret.

Could the article have been confusing an M60 hull with Gepard turret with the Marksman turret? That was tested on a number of chassis. Did the Saudis ever test Marksman?

No, I'm definitely certain that the article described a M-60 hull with a Gepard turret. IIRC, it illustrated a line drawing of the AA tank.

What is not so certain is where the magazine is, but I know I definitely have it stored away somewhere.

Armies & Weapons became Ground Defense International at some point and often had quite a few tantalizing articles and great photos. I have an A & W that illustrates a Khmer Republic M-113 that was flying a Khmer Republic flag on its aerial. What a great model that'd make.

Also reported in the magazine was that several OTO Melara Leopard 1A2s were sold to Libya, which in turned transferred a few to the USSR for testing by Soviet crews during the 1978 Ogaden War. It was reported that at least one was knocked out by Somali forces and displayed in Mogadishu.

If true, I'd love to see photos of that... Would they have been in Italian Army green or the sand color that Libyan M-113s from OTO Melara were painted? What national and/or tactical markings would they have had?

Man, talk about a great subject for modeling: A Leopard in sand tan with a Soviet crew ... Take that to one of the shows and completely confound the judges...

In any case, when time allows, I'll try to find the article. I'm going out of town and won't be able to look until I get back, but I will try to find the magazine and the article.

During the 1980's Saudi Arabia was keen to buy the Gepard turret on the Leopard II chassis but Germany would not allow the sale. The Saudi's never acquired any Gepard turrets and the turret was never installed on any M60 chassis I am aware of, though it could have been.

Are you thinking of this beast?

I'd love to see a pic of it, but I gather raytheon did submit the Dutch Cheetah turret (VERY similar to the German Gepard) on a M48 Hull for the DIVAD competition.

Again, no. The article was very clear and emphatic: The Saudis sought to purchase and mount GEPARD turrets to M-60 hulls. Whether they did it or not, whether the article is even describing something that was ever actually contemplated or whether the article reported anything correctly might entirely be another manner, but that's what the article said.

I'll find the magazine in due time...

OK gents, managed to find the magazine (and the other magazine that described Leopards in the Ogaden, stay tuned).

From Ground Defense International, Issue No. 59, December 1979:

As part of her plans for strengthening her armed forces, Saudi Arabia has bought 86 hulls of M-60 tanks from the United States at a cost of about 60.6 million dollars. They will be fitted with Oerlikon turrets of the type used for the German GEPARD self-propelled AA guns. Thus the M-60 A1 hull will become the third type, after the German LEOPARD and the Swiss PZ 68, to be fitted with a twin anti-aircraft mount that is unmatched anywhere in the world.

I am sure there was at some time in the past validity to the Gepard/M60A1 system

From a 1994 Jane's Defence Intelligence Review document on Saudi Arabia's military build-up by Dr. Andrew Rathmell it states the following systems for Saudi Arabia's anit-aircraft gun systems..........

60 x Skyguard
72 x 20 mm M-163 Vulcan SP
Oerlikon-Buhrle 35-2 GDF-002
AMX DCA 30-2 SP

On order: 100 x Gepard 35 mm SP
60 x 30-2 Wildcat SP

Now, it appears that this sale did not go through nor did the M60A1/Gepard system.

Speaking of other Gepard users.....Chile started taking possession of the first of their 30 ex-German Gepards in Novermber 2008....it will be interesting to see if they get a unique Chilean desert camouflage.

Hmmm... Wonder if there are 86 M-60A1 hulls sitting somewhere out in the desert...

I'd like to see photos of a Chilean Gepard. Have a Tamiya Gepard kit in the garage that i'd build if photos of such a camo scheme were to surface.

Now that would be an interesting subject - do you happen to have a source for that tidbit?

Jane's Land-Based Air Defence 2009

I believe that may be the one (according to the caption, the picture has been taken at the FAMAE plant in Chile) :

(from http://www.saorbats.com.ar/news/ )

Frenchy

Yup, Just search for "Chile Gepard" on the search engine of your choice......there are several articles on various defence sites.

Thanks for the info! Guess it's time to pick up another Tamiya Gepard kit!