ELVO Leonidas-2
| Leonidas-2 | |
|---|---|
Leonidas APCs of the Hellenic Force in Cyprus (ELDYK) | |
| Type | Armoured personnel carrier |
| Place of origin | Greece/ Austria |
| Service history | |
| In service | 1981–present |
| Used by | Greece Cyprus North Macedonia |
| Production history | |
| Produced | Austria 1976 Greece 1981-2001 |
| No. built | c. 800 |
| Specifications | |
| Mass | 14.8 t |
| Length | 5.87 m (19 ft 3 in) |
| Width | 2.50 m (8 ft 2 in) |
| Height | 1.7 m (5 ft 7 in) |
| Crew | 2 |
| Passengers | 8 |
| Armour | welded steel 26-32 mm front 15 mm sides and rear |
Main armament | 1 x 12.7 mm MG 1,500 rounds |
Secondary armament | 1 x 7.62 mm MG3 |
| Engine | Steyr 7FA inline 6-cylinder water-cooled diesel 320 hp (745 kW) at 2,300 rpm |
| Power/weight | 21.62 hp/t |
| Transmission | ZF Synchronized, 6 gears forward and 1 reverse |
| Suspension | torsion bar |
| Ground clearance | vertical obstacle: 0.8 m trench: 2.1 m |
Operational range | 520 km (320 mi) |
| Maximum speed | 63 km/h (39 mph) |
The Leonidas-2 represented an effort made by the Greek vehicle manufacturer ELVO to produce an advanced armoured personnel carrier (APC) of its own. It is named after Leonidas, king of the ancient city-state of Sparta. The first version of the Leonidas was the Austrian Saurer 4K 4FA armoured personnel carrier built with minor modifications by the Greek company (then known as Steyr Hellas S.A.) from 1981 until 1987. Initial production was essentially assembly, however Greek content progressively increased. The APC had a 320 hp engine and a weight of 14.8 tons.