The Czech government has approved the procurement of the latest Leopard 2A8 tank for the Army, the decision was announced today following a presentation by Jana Černochová, the nation’s Minister of Defense.
Czechia will join Germany’s framework agreement with KNDS for the purchase of the tanks, the first phase aims to contract 44 Leopard tanks, the needed number for a full tank battalion. The purchase is valued at around 1.34 billion euros and includes spare parts, training, APS and mine-protection systems. The Czech government will also have the option to buy a further 14 tanks.
Additionally, the Czechs will aim to integrate a series of national equipment on the vehicles, such as machine guns and communications equipment, this will be done via a separate contract with KNDS and is valued at around 61 thousand euros.
Supporting variants are also expected to be procured for the Czech Army, this will include engineering vehicles, recovery, bridge-layers and driver training vehicles, for a total of 19 Leopard-based vehicles. Their procurement will be done via a separate contract, either via a similar agreement with Germany or directly with manufacturers.
The Czech Army is currently expecting to take delivery of the first tanks in 2028 and the last in 2031, the bridge-layers are planned to be delivered by 2032.
The Leopard 2A8 will fully equip the 73rd Tank Battalion, the unit is currently operating both T-72M4 CZ and Leopard 2A4s. Some of the supporting variants will meanwhile go to the 153rd Engineering Battalion. As for the future of the current tank fleet in service, the T-72s are expected to be retired, and the Leopard 2A4s will be used in reservist units and for training.
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