11/12/2024 | Press release

The Czech Republic has commissioned Rheinmetall with the delivery of further 14 Leopard 2A4 main battle tanks. A corresponding contract has been signed by Dr. Björn Bernhard, CEO of Rheinmetall Landsysteme GmbH, and Lubor Koudelka, Director General of the Armaments and Acquisition Division of the Czech Ministry of Defence.

The contract, which is financed by the Czech Republic, also includes an extensive ammunition and logistics package and is worth around €161 million net. It covers the delivery of 14 refurbished Leopard 2A4 main battle tanks by the end of 2026. These come primarily from former Swiss stocks and will be converted to a Czech-specific configuration as part of the project.

The contract that has now been signed supplements the two existing ring swap agreements, under which the Czech armed forces have already received Leopard 2A4s and in return handed over older material to the Ukrainian armed forces.

The recently commissioned ammunition and logistics package is designed to maintain the operational readiness of the fleet, which will then comprise a total of 42 Leopard 2A4 main battle tanks and two Büffel 3 armoured recovery vehicles, at a high level. With the procurement that has now been initiated, the Czech armed forces are completing the conversion of their 73rd armoured battalion from originally Soviet to German main battle tanks.