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German Leopard I Turmverkleidung during 1980s NATO exercises, tank camouflage is tri-color soft-edge forest-green, red brown, dark olive drab. Yellow tape marked on turret and front glacis plate for war games. Tank is snug behind highway embankment, thus lowering its silhouette for armor ambush. By late-1980s, German tank crews replaced the beret with padded head gear with built-in radio headphone and microphone (as shown in photo) resembling those worn by Soviet tank crews since WW2-era. Leopard AS1
Main Battle Tank variants - anzacsteel.hobbyvista.com/Armoured%20Vehicles/leopardph_2.htm
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Rollover : Mud-misted Leopard II in Serbian province of Kosovo for NATO KFOR peace-keeping  operation, tank crew also wears padded head gear. Tank carries all-around European green camouflage. Kosovo Force - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kosovo_Force
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Concerning UN/NATO missions in Bosnia and Kosovo, by late-1990s Americans were weary of global peace-keeping duties (ex. Haiti, Bosnia, Kosovo) and discontent grew over US Clinton Administration commitment to foreign ventures with no direct US interests.
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Leading opponent of European peace-keeping missions was right-wing American political personality Patrick Buchanan. He argued that Europeans consistently shift responsibility to US to assume lead position for European problem in which Europe should take the lead. Yet when US need full military and political support for current operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, majority of Europeans shrink from mutual assistance and hide behind political rhetoric of constitution prohibitions or outright opposition to American foreign policy. Pat Buchanan - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pat_buchanan
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Inset 1 : Late-model Leopard 1A3 with angular gun mantle for ballistic deflection and improve sight controls. Spare roadwheels bolted on turret side and front fender and serve as defacto applique armor. Turret is welded armor with incorporated "space armor" design (small hollow space inside armor wedge to dissipate concentrated heat from shaped charges). German introduced additional upgrades to keep Leopard I export market and maintenance contract active, such as Leopard IA4 (fire control system), A5 (night/bad-weather vision system), and A6 (120mm gun) models. But upgrades outpaced its cost, with Leopard 2 in widespread service and Leopard 1A5 sufficient for designated tasks, the A6 model was shelved in 1987. Leopard I Development History - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leopard_1#Development_history
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Inset 2/3 : Late-model Leopard 2A6M with wedged gun mantle and enhanced mine  protection underneath chassis. Upgrade was needed for NATO deployment to Afghanistan where Taliban insurgents routinely set or remotely detonate road mines against armored vehicles (trick they used against 1980s Soviet occupation). Urgency was such that Canada actually borrowed 20 Leopard 2A6Ms for its deployment to Afghanistan. Leopard 2 Variants - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leopard_2#Variants
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German export market for Leopard 2 is more lucrative than Leopard 1 tanks since the 2 designs are over a decade apart, and Leopard 2 can accommodate the latest electronics and armor enhancements. Leopard 2 Main Battle Tank, Germany - www.army-technology.com/projects/leopard/
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Such as Leopard 2A1(gunner's thermal sight), A2 (additional armor plating for turret equipment), A3 (digital radio sets), A4 (major upgrades of automated fire suppression system, digital fire control system for new ammunition types, flat titanium/tungsten turret armor), A5 (gun mantle with wedge-shaped MEXAS -Modular Expandable Armor System- spaced add-on turret armor), A6 (120 mm L55 smoothbore gun). There is also plans for a 140mm gun upgrade upon western intelligence of Russian plans to upgrade main battle tanks to 135mm gun caliber.
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