A Leopard 2 A4 tank from the 1st Tank Battalion, 10th Armoured Cavalry Brigade (Polish), pushes to a staging point at the Joint Multinational Readiness Center’s Hohenfels Training Area, Germany, Jan. 29, 2022. (U.S. Army Capt. Alun Thomas)
Denmark and the Netherlands will jointly supply 14 Leopard 2A4 main battle tanks to Ukraine, the two countries announced on April 20.
“The Netherlands and Denmark today announce our intention to jointly acquire, refurbish and donate 14 Leopard 2A4 tanks for Ukraine,” a joint statement from the countries’ defense ministers said.
The Leopard 2A4 tanks will be bought at a cost of €165 million. The cost will be “equally divided” between Denmark and the Netherlands, and the tanks expected to be delivered from “early 2024.”
In January, the German government announced it would make 14 Leopard 2A6 tanks available for Kiev forces and would give authorization to European partners to re-export their tanks to Ukraine. Later, the number was raised to 18 tanks. Portugal also said it will provide four more Leopard 2A6s.
A total of 40 additional 2A4s tanks, 14 from Poland, eight from Canada, eight from Norway and ten from Spain, were also promised to Ukraine. In addition, Sweden will reportedly supply as many as ten of its Strv 121 tanks, which are based on the Leopard 2A5. Finland will also provide six Leopard 2R heavy mine breaching vehicles.
Both the Leopard 2A4 and 2A5 are armed with the Rh-120 L/44 120 mm gun, while the newer 2A6 is armed with the more lethal Rh-120 L/55 gun of the same caliber. All versions are powered by MTU MB 873 Ka-501 liquid-cooled V12 twin-turbo diesel engine with 1,479 hp and can reach a top speed of up to 70 kilometers per hour.
Kiev forces received the first batch of Leopard 2 tanks late in February. However, the tank is yet to be spotted in combating Russian forces in the special military operation zone.
One of the tanks was destroyed earlier this month in a training ground in Poland in an accident that resulted from mishandling by Ukrainian troops.
The Leopard 2 is being promoted as a “Wunderwaffe” by Kiev and its allies. However, the tank came under much criticism in 2016, when at least eight Leopard 2A4s of the Turkish military were destroyed by ISIS terrorists in the northern region of Syria with Soviet-era anti-tank guided missiles.
The German-made tanks are supposed to help Ukraine to launch a large-scale offensive against the Russian military next Spring. While the tanks will make up for some of Kiev forces’ losses, they will not likely provide an advantage.
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