Introduction

In Munich at the KNDS site, the first examples of Leopard 2A8 tanks have been officially presented, destined respectively for the German Army (Heer) and the Norwegian Army.

At the significant event, Defense Minister Boris Pistorius, Bavarian Prime Minister Dr. Markus Söder, Norwegian State Secretary Marte Gerhardsen, and numerous international guests were present.

Orders

The Bundeswehr has so far ordered a total of 123 new production Leopard 2A8s; moreover, Minister Pistorius announced during the presentation that in 2026 another 75 examples of the new tank will be ordered.

Norway has ordered 54 Leopard 2A8NORs with an option for another 18 samples; the Norwegian vehicles have differences compared to the German ones; in fact, the LEO 2A8NORs adopt an Israeli-made laser warning illumination system, while the LEO 2A8s of the Heer mount a similar German system; other differences are noticed in weight, with the Norwegian mbts being lighter because the track protections and anti-mine ones were not installed, even though there are provisions.

Moreover, the Norwegian tanks differ from the German ones for the communication radio systems and the combat management system, the integrated ICS/CORTEX system of the Norwegian company Kongsberg, which allows reconfiguring the data transfer in the MBT and communication with other combat systems.

Interest

In the Leopard 2A8 program, in addition to Germany and Norway, the Netherlands, Lithuania, the Czech Republic, Sweden, and Croatia are interested.

These countries have adhered to the framework agreement signed by the German Defense with KNDS DE for the production of Leopard 2A8s; this agreement sets the final price of the MBT, the delivery times and allows the participating countries to obtain economies of scale and significant logistic and training synergies.

New PzH 2000 Self-propelled Artillery for Heer

Together with the Leopard 2A8s, KNDS DE showed the first example of a new production PzH 2000 made for the Heer.

In May 2023, the Bundestag, the German Federal Parliament authorized the signing of the contract for the realization of 12 new examples of PzH 2000.

These new self-propelled guns will be delivered to the Heer by 2026 and will be added to the PzH 2000s ordered earlier to replace those granted as military aid to Ukraine.

In fact, in March 2023, there had been parliamentary authorization to purchase 10 new PzH 2000s that will replace the examples transferred from Germany to Ukraine due to the Russian invasion.

Source and photo credit @KNDS Deutschland