On Tuesday, June 10, 2025, Lithuanian Defense Minister Dovilė Šakalienė stated in an interview with the Baltic News Service (BNS) that the ministry is negotiating with the German defense industry over the possibility of assembling Leopard 2A8 tanks in Lithuania with the involvement of local companies, in connection with plans to acquire 44 units.
Leopard 2A8 / Photo: Jakub Link-Lenczowski, MILMAG
“In the coming weeks, tank manufacturers [KNDS Deutschland – editor’s note] will arrive to discuss the details of assembling the tanks in Lithuania. This is a very positive development, as it means that a significant portion of the added value will be created here in Lithuania,” said Minister of National Defense Dovilė Šakalienė in an interview with BNS.
Dovilė Šakalienė did not specify which Lithuanian entities might be involved in the co-production of the German tanks.
“There are some initial options, including joint German-Lithuanian companies that could carry out a significant portion of the work. But once the manufacturer arrives, we will negotiate how the assembly could be implemented in a way that ensures timely delivery of the tanks while also retaining as much added value in Lithuania as possible,” she said.
Until now, according to the original agreement, the first tank company was expected to arrive in Lithuania in 2029, and the full tank battalion was to be formed by 2034. However, according to the minister, an advance payment for the tanks will be made in the coming months, which will accelerate deliveries. “We now hope that the first tanks will start arriving in 2028, the majority in 2029, and the remainder in 2030,” said Dovilė Šakalienė. This is linked to plans to increase defense spending to 5–6% of GDP by the end of the decade (with 5.25% being pushed for as early as next year).
It is worth recalling that earlier reports on Lithuania’s plans to purchase the latest Leopard 2 tanks indicated that unspecified components of the vehicles could potentially be produced locally. Similar negotiations regarding the localization of production for the planned 58 Leopard 2A8CZ tanks are being conducted by the Czech Republic—involving companies such as Excalibur Army (part of the Czechoslovak Group holding), PBS, and Ray Service. However, according to press reports from December 14 of last year, there has been friction between the Ministry of Defense and the General Staff over the high cost of technical modernization.
On December 16, 2024, during her first foreign visit in Berlin, Defense Minister Dovilė Šakalienė signed a Letter of Intent (LoI) regarding the possible acquisition of 44 Leopard 2A8 tanks.
According to the signed document, Lithuania joined the joint procurement agreement for Leopard 2A8 tanks from KNDS Deutschland, originally concluded on May 30, 2024, having submitted its application on December 10. This move followed the approval granted on October 22, 2024, by Lithuania’s State Defense Council (Valstybės gynimo taryba, VGT). The Ministry of Defense announced the start of negotiations on January 23, 2024, with the first reports on the matter dating back to July 28, 2023.
The Leopard 2A8 tanks are to be assigned to a new tank battalion within a mechanized division, and will be complemented by two battalions (approximately 90 units) of CV90 infantry fighting vehicles, which Lithuania plans to acquire as part of an international initiative. On October 15, 2024, the Lithuanian Ministry of Defense purchased 27 additional Vilkas wheeled infantry fighting vehicles (German-Dutch GTK Boxer), which will join the 89 vehicles already in service, bringing the total to 116 units—though procurement plans call for at least 211.
Lithuania’s tank procurement is being processed jointly with Germany (123 units), Norway (54 units), the Kingdom of the Netherlands (46 units with an option for 6 more), Croatia (around 50 units), and the aforementioned Czech Republic, pending consensus (with Trophy HV active protection system for German Leopard 2A8 tanks). Spain has also expressed interest in the Leopard 2A8—both in terms of purchasing new tanks and modernizing its Leopard 2E fleet, as has Austria.
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