Rheinmetall has been commissioned to supply more main battle tanks (MBTs) and armoured recovery vehicles to the Czech Republic as part of the Ringtausch (‘Ring Swap’) process commissioned by the German government that will see military equipment forwarded to Ukraine.
An agreement to this effect was signed at the end of July 2024 in Prague between representatives of both countries and Rheinmetall. Under the deal, which is in the low-three-digit-million-euro range, the Czech armed forces will receive 14 Leopard 2A4 MBTs and one Buffalo 3 armoured recovery vehicle (ARV) from Rheinmetall, while in turn the Czech military will transfer military equipment to Ukraine. The first vehicle is due to be shipped to the Czech Republic at the end of 2024, with the rest of the tanks delivered up to the end of April 2025. The Buffalo 3 ARV will be delivered by the beginning of 2026.
As was already the case in the first Ringtausch with the Czech Republic in October 2022, Rheinmetall negotiated the necessary contracts in close co-operation with the German Federal Ministry of Defence and the Czech authorities and armed forces within a short period of time. Work on the vehicles has also already begun.
The vehicles now being made available, which are the property of Rheinmetall, are upgraded Leopard 2A4 MBTs formerly in the inventories of various user states. The Buffalo 3 ARV is mounted on an enhanced Leopard 2 chassis.
The Ringtausch is a procedure developed by the German government in co-operation with Germany’s neighbours and NATO allies to support Ukraine in its fight against Russian aggression. Specifically, NATO member states provide Ukraine with Soviet-era heavy equipment in exchange for readily available Western military systems.
