Amusing Hobby has turned its attention to a tank built for a battlefield that didn’t exist thirty years ago, previewing its 1/35th scale Leopard 2A8 “DEU” kit.
The Leopard 2A8 “DEU” marks the Bundeswehr’s first entirely new-build production run of main battle tanks in over three decades, moving away from the practice of refurbishing older Cold War-era hulls. The variant introduces an overhauled chassis and turret architecture, built around the factory-integrated EuroTrophy active protection system, a hard-kill system that uses high-frequency radar panels around the turret to detect incoming anti-tank guided missiles and rocket-propelled grenades before launching interceptors to destroy them mid-air.
Countering top-attack munitions and drone swarms is a particular focus of the “DEU” configuration. The turret roof has been re-engineered with multi-layered composite add-on armour shaped to absorb the impact of FPV loitering munitions and roof-penetrating explosives, paired with a modernised Remote Controlled Weapon Station allowing the crew to engage low-flying threats from within the hull. An advanced multi-spectral signature management suite further reduces the tank’s thermal and radar visibility. The tank also functions as a digitised, networked command node, pairing a 120mm L55A1 smoothbore gun with a digital backbone linking it to NATO’s broader battle management systems, alongside third-generation thermal imaging optics with automated target tracking. An upgraded 1,500-horsepower MTU powerpack handles the tank’s near 70-tonne combat weight.
Kit number 35A080 from Amusing Hobby features the EuroTrophy Active Protection System, visible via four radar panels and countermeasure launcher boxes on the turret sides, alongside a domestic German Laser Warning System. The kit also includes reinforced turret roof armour with newly designed sliding crew hatches, a meteorological sensor, and an advanced panoramic commander’s periscope adapted from the Puma IFV. Heat-dissipating rear grilles are moulded in plastic, and the kit includes photo-etch parts. The main gun and turret-mounted remote machine gun can be posed, and hatches can be opened, though no interior detail is included. Workable suspension is featured as well.
Release timing and pricing for the Leopard 2A8 “DEU” kit have yet to be confirmed.
