Germany looks towards Leopard 2 replacement - IHS Jane's 360

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Germany looks towards Leopard 2 replacement

Sebastian Schulte, Bonn - IHS Jane's Defence Weekly
28 May 2015
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Germany is looking towards the eventual successor to the Leopard 2 MBT. It remains unclear whether the successor will be an entirely
new design, or an innovative update to the Leopard 2. Rheinmetall MBT Revolution Leopard 2 upgrade concept pictured. Source:
Rheinmetall
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The German Ministry of Defence (MoD) is to initiate concept studies for a successor to
the Leopard 2 main battle tank (MBT) before the end of the year.
The news was announced by German Defence State Secretary Markus Grbel to
Parliament, with Grbel adding that the MoD plans to conduct joint capability studies
with France for the project. This bilateral element is hoped to provide some tailwind to
the proposed merger between Krauss-Maffei Wegmann (KMW) and Nexter to form a
new European land-systems powerhouse, prospectively known as KANT [KraussMaffei Wegmann And Nexter Together].
The capabilities studies are set to run between 2015 and 2018, with Germany and
France reviewing technologies and concepts for the future MBT. Speaking to IHS
Jane's , a source stated that the Leopard 2 successor will include technology from
Germany's Puma infantry fighting vehicle (IFV). According to the MoD, the in-service
time of the Leopard 2 ends around 2030.
At this time it remains unclear whether the new tank will be an entirely new design or an
innovative update of the current Leopard design. That said, the fact that the German
MoD refers in-house to the project as "Leopard 2Ax" is a fairly strong indicator of the
lie-of-the-land at the moment.
German lawmakers asked the MoD back in October 2014 to review and re-evaluate the
country's MBT requirements and to plan for an eventual Leopard 2 successor.
Although western European MBT fleets have declined massively since the end of the
Cold War, their value has recently been demonstrated by the Ukraine crisis. Indeed, as
a consequence of the Ukraine crisis, the German Defence Minister Ursula von der
Leyen decided in April to increase the number of active German MBTs from 225 to 328.
Comparatively, West Germany used to operate 2,300 Leopard 2s.

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http://www.janes.com/article/51850/germany-looks-towards-leopard-2-replacement

13/07/2015

Germany looks towards Leopard 2 replacement - IHS Jane's 360

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Neumann

Jun 12, 2015

What a shame about our Germany defence minister Mrs. Dr. "Panzer Uschi or Tank Uschi" von der Leyen , a
formaly childrens Doctor. She got no knowledge in defence questions about absolutely nothing, What a shame for
us Germans !
So in one thing you all can be sure, never ever will Germany start a war again, LoL !
Have a nice and peacefull evening dears !
Like

mojorisin

Reply

May 30, 2015

Yep, right. Two EU countries, which spend less then 2% of their GDP on defense going to create a new tank. I don`t
believe it even for a second. They just feel a need to say something after seeing "Armata" on the Red Square. The
truth is they rely on US (NATO) for the defense. That's simple economy to them. Why pay? Let some other country
do it.
1

rpg9

Like

Reply

May 29, 2015

This is not a new Tank, only a small upgrade for the stupids with an formaly well know'n Deisenroth armor, like the
formally Canadian Leo1 CS2 upgrade project, what an absolutely poorely Bullshit again !
Evil for the bloody unknown german Taxpayers again, but we will write about this for our german friends,
Rheinmetall and KMWEG, you can forget it right now, never more again such a swindle, you are sadly Looser's !
No more Taxmoney for nothing , and the german defence Minister Ursula von der Leyen, called "Panzer Uschi" get
no notion about nothing. She is a living joke in her position ?
1

Like

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http://www.janes.com/article/51850/germany-looks-towards-leopard-2-replacement

13/07/2015