BERLIN (AP) — The German army has ordered 18 new Leopard 2 tanks to interchange automobiles that had been despatched to Ukraine earlier this 12 months, a number one protection firm stated Friday.
Kraus-Maffei Wegmann stated a contract for the Leopard 2A8 tanks was signed with the federal workplace for army tools. It didn’t give monetary particulars, however the German parliament’s funds committee on Wednesday authorized funding of some 525 million euros ($563 million).
The firm stated that supply of the brand new tanks is scheduled to begin in 2025, and that the deal consists of choices for an additional 105 Leopard 2A8 tanks.
Kraus-Maffei Wegmann additionally will produce 12 new self-propelled howitzers for the German army as a part of an possibility agreed to in March, the corporate stated.
Germany’s protection minister pushed for brand spanking new tanks to be acquired as rapidly as attainable after the federal government agreed in late January to supply 14 Leopard 2A6 battle tanks to Ukraine.
That quantity was elevated a couple of weeks later to 18 as Berlin and others scrambled to assemble two battalions of Leopard 2 tanks for Kyiv.
Germany, Denmark and the Netherlands even have agreed to supply Ukraine with refurbished Leopard 1 tanks, an older mannequin that the German army hasn’t used for 20 years.
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