Development of the Leopard 1 can be traced back to November 1956 when the operational requirement for a new battle tank was formulated by the Federal German Armed Forces (Bundeswehr). Originally a Franco-German project the tank under design was named the ' Standard-Panzer'. The French later dropped out however & on 1 October 1963 the ' Standard' tank was officially named ' Leopard' an appropriate choice considering Germany's wartime pedigree with the formidable Tiger & Panther. This book traces the development & service record of the Leopard 1 detailing its control systems modifications & variants.