A number one protection firm says the German navy has ordered 18 new Leopard 2 tanks to interchange autos that had been despatched to Ukraine earlier this 12 months
FILE – A Leopard 2 tank is seen in motion throughout a go to of German Protection Minister Boris Pistorius on the Bundeswehr tank battalion 203 on the Area Marshal Rommel Barracks in Augustdorf, Germany, on Feb. 1, 2023. The German navy has ordered 18 new Leopard 2 tanks to interchange autos that had been despatched to Ukraine earlier this 12 months, a number one protection firm mentioned Friday Might 26, 2023. (AP Picture/Martin Meissner, File)
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BERLIN — The German navy has ordered 18 new Leopard 2 tanks to interchange autos that had been despatched to Ukraine earlier this 12 months, a number one protection firm mentioned Friday.
Kraus-Maffei Wegmann mentioned a contract for the Leopard 2A8 tanks was signed with the federal workplace for navy gear. It did not give monetary particulars, however the German parliament’s finances committee on Wednesday accredited funding of some 525 million euros ($563 million).
The corporate mentioned that supply of the brand new tanks is scheduled to start out in 2025, and that the deal contains choices for one more 105 Leopard 2A8 tanks.
Kraus-Maffei Wegmann additionally will produce 12 new self-propelled howitzers for the German navy as a part of an possibility agreed to in March, the corporate mentioned.
Germany’s protection minister pushed for brand new tanks to be acquired as rapidly as attainable after the federal government agreed in late January to offer 14 Leopard 2A6 battle tanks to Ukraine.
That quantity was elevated just a few weeks later to 18 as Berlin and others scrambled to assemble two batallions of Leopard 2 tanks for Kyiv.
Germany, Denmark and the Netherlands even have agreed to offer Ukraine with refurbished Leopard 1 tanks, an older mannequin that the German navy hasn’t used for 20 years.