Under the German government’s “Ringtausch” equipment exchange programme, Rheinmetall will soon be supplying the Slovak Republic with Leopard 2A4 main battle tanks and other military hardware. In turn, the Slovak military will be transferring military equipment to Ukraine. This has now been contractually agreed in Brussels between representatives of both countries and Rheinmetall.
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German army Leopard 2A4 main battle tank. (Picture source Army Recognition)
The Slovak armed forces will be receiving 15 Leopard 2A4 main battle tanks. The order includes ammunition as well as a service package encompassing training and spare parts. The first vehicle is due to be shipped in December 2022, with delivery to be completed by the end of 2023.
The “Ringtausch” is a procedure developed by the German government in cooperation with Germany’s neighbours and NATO allies to support Ukraine in its fight against Russian aggression. Specifically, NATO member states are providing Ukraine with Soviet-era heavy equipment in exchange for readily available Western military systems.
Working in close cooperation with the German Ministry of Defence and the Slovak authorities and armed forces, Rheinmetall swiftly negotiated the necessary contracts. These were signed on 15th November 2022 in Brussels by Martin Sklenár, Defence Policy Director of the Slovak Ministry of Defence; Vice Admiral Carsten Stawitzki, National Armaments Director in the German Ministry of Defence; as well as Dr. Björn Bernhard, CEO of Rheinmetall’s Business Unit Tactical Vehicles and Eduardo Veen Martinez, Executive Vice President Rheinmetall Business Unit Tactical Vehicles.
Work on the vehicles has already begun. The property of Rheinmetall, the vehicles now being made available are overhauled Leopard 2A4 MBTs formerly in the inventories of various user states.
The version Leopard 2A4 Main Battle Tank constitutes the basis of today’s Leopard family. the tank is armed with a 120 mm smoothbore gun which has been developed by Rheinmetall and fires two types of ammunition, APFSDS-T, and HEAT-MP-T. The APFSDS-T has an effective range of over 2,000 m and the HEAT-MP-T has a high degree of effectiveness against both soft and hard targets.
The Leopard 2A4 has a conventional layout for a modern tank with the driver position at the front of the hull, the turret in the middle and the turret at the rear. It has a crew of four including a driver, commander, gunner and loader. The tank commander is protected by a 660mm thick special armour block in front of his face. The crew compartment turret sides are protected by 310 mm thick armour, so for 30 degrees from the turret longitude axis.
The Leopard 2A4 is motorized with an MTU MB 873 diesel engine, which provides 1,103 kW of engine output. It can run at a maximum road speed of 72 km with a maximum cruising range of 550 km.
