WASHINGTON – The Czech Ministry of Defense plans to join an emerging push by Germany to upgrade its fleet of Leopard 2 main battle tanks and is targeting an order of 70 of them the latest A8 configuration of the vehicle.
Leading politicians in Prague have appointed Defense Minister Jana Černochová as the contact for negotiations on a Czech purchase of the Krauss-Maffei Wegmann-Rheinmetall-made weapons, known in German as Kampfpanzer, the Defense Ministry said in a May 24 statement.
The idea is to back a German purchase that will initially include 18 Leopard 2A8 tanks for $565 million to replace Berlin’s donations to Ukraine, but over time this could turn into a multi-billion euro deal media reported developing for up to 123 German copies.
The proposed Czech investment “paves the way for the Army of the Czech Republic to acquire a world-class ground platform that is also in service with a number of European armies and is compatible with other NATO armies,” according to a statement by the ministry. “In addition, the Czech side hopes that the joint approach with Germany will result in a significant price reduction, shorter delivery times and the provision of sufficient logistical support.”
German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius hailed the prospective Czech involvement as a major step towards Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s fabled “watershed” goal of a comprehensive boost in German and European defense capabilities.
Other nations are invited to join the evolving program for lower prices, higher production rates — vendors will almost certainly need to increase capacity — and greater commonality in everything from training to conservation, Pistorius said.
Czech defense officials expect their new tanks to cost “tens of billions of kronor” by the end of the decade, said Colonel Ján Kerdík, director of the Defense Ministry’s Land Forces Development Department. 10 billion Czech koruna is equivalent to about 450 million US dollars.
Sebastian Sprenger is Associate Editor for Europe at Defense News, covering the state of the defense market in the region, as well as US-European cooperation and multinational investments in defense and global security. Previously, he was Editor-in-Chief for Defense News. He lives in Cologne, Germany.