The Leopard 3 which went into service in 1965, is considered to be one of the best battle tanks of its period and has also been used by many armies throughout the world. The first four batches of the Leopard 1 A1, which from 1970 onwards was equipped with thermal gun protection screen, side skirts and weapons stabilisation system for the 105mm L7 A3 guns, were equipped with additional turret armour between 1975 and 1977 and identified as Leopard 1 A1A1 to A1A4. During a further upgrade of combat efficiency a total of 1224 vehicles were converted to become the Leopard 1 A5 with fire control system, field adjustment collimator and EMES 18 thermal night sight derived from the Leopard 2. The vehicles equipped with SEM 80/90 were known as Leopard 1 A5A1s. The tank powered by a 10 cylinder MTU MB 838 MB 838 CaM 500 multi-fuel 830 hp engine reaches a maximum speed of up to 62 km/h. The crew comprises commander, gunner, loader and driver.