Germany intends to purchase an additional 105 Leopard 2A8 tanks

The German Ministry of Defense plans to purchase an additional 105 Leopard 2A8 main battle tanks.

Hartpunkt reports that the purchase of combat vehicles will take place under an existing framework contract with the defense company KNDS.

The new tanks, in particular, are needed to equip a German brigade based in Lithuania.

These Leopard 2A8s are to be delivered between 2027 and 2030, with 70 units to be delivered during the last two years of the contract.

The cost of purchasing 105 tanks is estimated at approximately €2.9 billion. However, these funds are not currently provided for in the federal budget for 2024, the financial plan until 2027, or the economic plan of the Bundeswehr’s special fund for 2024.

Therefore, the allocation of the necessary funds has yet to be approved by the German Parliament’s Budget Committee.

In addition, the cost of operating these 105 Leopard 2A8s is estimated at approximately EUR 750.53 million in the period from 2032 to 2040.

And the funds required for this should be reflected in the future budgets of the country’s defense ministry.

Last May, the German Parliament’s budget committee approved the allocation of €525.6 million to purchase 18 Leopard 2A8 tanks, replacing the same number of main battle tanks that were delivered to Ukraine as part of military aid.

This approval also included an option to purchase an additional 105 Leopard 2A8s, which the German defense ministry decided to exercise in 2024.

The Leopard 2A8 is a modern main battle tank based on the Leopard 2A7+. The combat vehicle has received several improvements, such as the integration of the Trophy active protection system and the all-round awareness system.

The tank is protected by the latest generation of passive multi-layer armor. The modular armor package’s design includes layers of steel, tungsten, composite filler, and ceramic components. The developers also strengthened the vehicle’s mine protection and the upper hemisphere’s protection from cluster munitions and small drones.