The bottom forces tools producer Krauss-Maffei Wegmann and Nexter (KNDS) has unveiled the primary Leopard 2A8 foremost battle tank, which was constructed to fulfill orders for the Norwegian Arm. The rollout was attended by German Protection Minister Boris Pistorius and Norwegian State Secretary Marte Gerhardsen, with the agency asserting that it was“an vital milestone for the trendy tools of the Bundeswehr and for European cooperation within the discipline of land methods.” A brand new cell howitzer system, the PzH 2000, was additionally rolled out on the ceremony, with each it and the brand new tank anticipated to enter service in 2028. The Leopard 2 program has been a number one beneficiary of the surge in defence spending seen throughout the European continent from 2022 in response to escalated tensions with Russia.
In comparison with the Leopard 2A6, which though fielded in comparatively small numbers internationally, is closely relied on by Germany and different main customers, the Leopard 2A8 boasts additional enhancements together with the combination of the Israeli Trophy energetic safety system, a brand new 20 kW auxiliary energy unit, and a brand new fight administration and knowledge system, amongst different conservative upgrades. The automobile is seen to have a aggressive benefit in Europe because of the interoperability it should present with armies throughout the continent. In July 2025 it was reported that the German Defence Ministry was contemplating plans to obtain a number of hundred Leopard 2A8s, following the depletion of its stockpiles of Leopard 2A6 tanks because of donations to the Ukrainian Army.
The German Army on Might 22 inaugurated the forty fifth Armoured Brigade stationed in Vilnius, Lithuania, which is meant to supply an elite ahead deployed mechanised warfare functionality on the territory of the previous Soviet Union. Situated simply 150 kilometres from the Belarusian capital Minsk, and fewer than 800 kilometres from Moscow, the brigade is meant to deploy 108 Leopard 2A8 tanks, which had been ordered in July 2024 below a 2.93 billion euro ($3.14 billion) contract, and will probably be delivered between 2027 and 2030. The Czech Republic, Italy and the Netherlands have additionally positioned orders for the tanks. A number one competitor to the Leopard 2 on European markets is the South Korean K2, with Poland and Turkey every planning to discipline 1000 of them somewhat than inserting additional orders for Leopard 2s. The Korean tanks don’t present interoperability with different European fleets, and South Korea lacks comparable political and financial leverage to market its autos, however they’re considerably extra trendy with greater mobility and decrease crew necessities and upkeep wants.
The Leopard 2’s viability for contemporary warfare has been extensively questioned, as has these of different very massive Western foremost battle tanks with comparable design philosophies such because the American M1A2 Abrams and British Challenger 2, as their emphasis on heavy armour shield is taken into account removed from optimum in an space of drone warfare. The Chinese language Kind 100 unveiled in September 2025 is taken into account the chief in adapting to new realities of armoured warfare, with the T-14 and M1E3 below improvement in Russia and the U.S. respectively each being variations of a lot older designs in an analogous path. The Leopard 2A6 has taken very excessive losses in fight within the Ukrainian theatre towards Russian forces, whereas a number of of the tanks have been captured and analysed intimately at Russian services.
