BERLIN –
The German army has ordered 18 new Leopard 2 tanks to exchange automobiles that had been despatched to Ukraine Earlier this yr, a number one protection corporate mentioned Friday.
Kraus-Maffei Wegmann mentioned a freelance for the Leopard 2A8 tanks used to be signed with the federal place of work for army apparatus. It did not give monetary main points, however the German parliament’s funds committee on Wednesday authorized investment of a few $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 any other 105 Leopard 2A8 tanks.
Kraus-Maffei Wegmann may even produce 12 new self-propelled howitzers for the German army as a part of an possibility agreed to in March, the corporate mentioned.
Germany’s protection minister driven for brand new tanks to be obtained as briefly as imaginable after the federal government agreed in overdue January to offer 14 Leopard 2A6 combat tanks to Ukraine.
That quantity used to be higher a couple of weeks later to 18 as Berlin and others scrambled to gather two battalions of Leopard 2 tanks for Kyiv.
Germany, Denmark and the Netherlands have additionally agreed to offer Ukraine with refurbished Leopard 1 tanks, an older fashion that the German army hasn’t used for 20 years.
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