Germany Buys Dozens Of Leopard 2 Tanks And Howitzers After Sending Aid To Ukraine

Illustration of Leopard 2 tank training. (Wikimedia Commons/synaxonang)

JAKARTA - Germany plans to buy 18 Leopard 2 tanks and 12 self-propelled howitzers to equip its military arsenal, having previously delivered aid to Ukraine.

The purchases of these tanks will reach 525 million euros (578 million US dollars). Meanwhile, howitzers have a price of 190.7 million euros, all of which will be delivered no later than 2026, according to Ministry of Finance documents aimed at parliament, according to procurement documents seen by Reuters on Friday.

Purchases of these tanks include options for another 105 tanks at a price of around 2.9 billion euros, defense sources said, adding German parliamentary budget committees are expected to sign a deal by the end of May.

Germany has supplied 18 Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine since last year's Russian invasion, saying it intends to fill the void with new tanks as soon as possible.

Citing the BBC, the latest eighteen main fighting tanks (MBT) were delivered after Ukrainian crews were trained to use them.

Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said he believed the tanks could "provide a decisive contribution" to the front lines of the war.

The German army is known to train Ukrainian tank crews to use the advanced A6 variant of Leopard 2 for several weeks.

The tank is specially designed to compete with Russia's T-90 main fighter tank, but is considered easier to care for and more fuel-efficient than most other Western tanks.

Meanwhile, the 12 howitzers are part of a defense ministry plan that was approved by the German Parliament in March to purchase up to 28 howitzer tanks instead.

Leopard was co-produced by KMW and Rheinmetall, while howitzer was created by KMW. This order was first reported by Bloomberg.

Ukraine has been calling on more modern vehicles and weapons systems from Western allies for months to help fight Russia's invasion.