Czech Republic orders more Leopard 2A4 MBTs from Rheinmetall

The Czech Republic has ordered another 14 Leopard 2A4 main battle tanks (MBTs) from Rheinmetall, the German company announced on 11 December 2024.

A contract for the tanks has been signed by Dr Björn Bernhard, CEO of Rheinmetall Landsysteme, and Lubor Koudelka, director general of the Armaments and Acquisition Division of the Czech Ministry of Defence.

Financed by the Czech Republic, the contract covers the delivery of 14 refurbished Leopard 2A4 MBTs by the end of 2026. The tanks will come primarily from former Swiss stocks and will be converted to a Czech-specific configuration as part of the project.

The contract also includes an extensive ammunition and logistics package and is worth around EUR 161 million net.

This latest Czech order supplements the two existing ‘ring swap’ agreements, under which the Czech Land Forces have already received Leopard 2A4s and in return handed over older materiel 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 MBTs and two Büffel 3 armoured recovery vehicles, at a high level.

With the procurement that has now been initiated, the Czech Land Forces are completing the conversion of their 73rd Armoured Battalion from originally Soviet to German MBTs.