The simulation presents the depleted uranium M829 APFSDS projectile impacting the composite turret cheek armour of the Leopard 2AV, at 2km.

The Leopard 2AV's armour array has been based on available sources, including a Polish magazine article: [ Ссылка ]
All plates have been modelled as High-Hardness Armour (HHA), ranging from 440BHN to 490BHN hardness (the 25, 30, and 35mm plates have been modelled as 440BHN hardness, with the 12mm ones being 490BHN). The NERA panels are angled at 60°, being HHA-Rubber-HHA in construction. Both NERA arrays have a 4mm rubber interlayer, with the forward NERA array having 4mm bulging plates, while the rear array has 1.5mm bulging plates. The bulging plates have been modelled as 500BHN HHA.

EVALUATION OF RESULTS:
Lanz-Odermatt M829 Penetration based on a 4.27kg 25.4 x 453 mm DU penetrator, at 2 km (1547 m/s impact velocity), against 250BHN RHA at 35° = 456 mm LoS penetration. (at 60° this is 510 mm, close to the values often stated online) To Note: the 453mm length of the penetrator includes the hollow section at the end, which means the penetration value is likely a slight overprediction.

Leopard 2AV LoS steel = 422/cos(35) = 515 mm
LoS Steel penetration in simulation = 412/cos(35) = 502 mm
As 502 mm of steel only provided 456 mm of protection, the mass effectiveness of the armour array is ~0.91 (slightly less if you include the rubber).
Against the 3BM26 projectile, 380 mm of steel provided ~450 mm of protection, giving a mass effectiveness of ~1.18
While the armour provided exceptional head-on protection for its time, and would have been efficient against Soviet steel APFSDS projectiles, it seems that it would have been inefficient against monolithic DU/WHA projectiles.

Some sources state the Leopard 2AV turret was rated to provide ~350mm RHAe protection across a 60° frontal arc (30° either side of vehicle centre). However, this may be due to the turret side being the limiting factor, having only 276 mm LoS steel at 30° from centre, while the cheeks had 424 mm LoS.

Diagrams provided here: [ Ссылка ]

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Amazing thumbnail artwork from: @Warthunder

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