At the end of February the German manufacturer KMW (Krauss-Maffei Wegmann) began assembly of the first refurbished and upgrade Leopard 2A4 main battle tank (MBT) at its Munich plant. The vehicles, along with other 11 Leopard 2A4s coming from Bundeswehr’s stocks, will be delivered to the Hungarian Army by the end of 2020.
The German manufacturer KMW began assembly of the first of a dozen Leopard 2A4 MBTs, which will be delivered to Hungary by year’s end / Picture: Honvédelem.hu
Delivery of the ex-German Leopard 2A4 MBTs to Hungary is part of a broader agreement signed on 19th December 2018 between the country’s Ministry of Defense (MoD) and KMW. The deal, which has an estimated value of €0,5 – 1 billion, covers also procurement of 44 Leopard 2A7+ MBTs, 24 PzH 2000 155mm self-propelled howitzers as well as 13 HX and TGS family of truck vehicles from Rheinmetall MAN Military Vehicles.
Deliveries, which, according to the contract should commence this year, are expected to run through to 2025. The agreement includes also significant training and logistic packages.
Procurement of Leopard 2A7+ MBTs and PzH 2000 155mm SPHs will bring a new quality to the Hungarian Army. Up to day the service operates legacy Soviet-era T-72M/M1 MBTs and towed M1955 (D-20), which no longer meet the requirements of the modern battlefield.