In 2009, the Brazilian Army purchased 250 ex-German army Leopard 1A5 tanks at USD 500m each, to be deployed along 16,000km of the country's border, under the national defense strategy (NDS) programme.
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Unloading of an upgraded Leopard 1A5BR delivered to the Brazilian 6th Armored Cavalry Regiment (Picture source: Twitter account of Brazilian army)
On 28 October 2009, Krauss-Maffei Wegmann (KMW) handed over the first of 220 Leopard 1A5 to the Brazilian army at the company's site in Kassel, Germany. The tanks, that come from the reserve stocks of the German army, had been overhauled and modernized since the start of 2009. All these tanks were scheduled for delivery by 2012. Brazil purchased the main battle tanks in the context of a government-to-government agreement with Germany. The Federal Office of Defence Technology and Procurement in its turn commissioned KMW at the end of December 2008 as the general contractor to overhaul the tanks and to develop and install specific Brazilian sub-systems. In addition, the contract scope provides the South American country with training equipment, simulators, driver training vehicles and local technical support.
Upgraded Leopard 1A5BR delivered to the Brazilian 6th Armored Cavalry Regiment (Picture source: Twitter account of Brazilian army)
The Brazilian army is presumed to still currently operate 128 Leopard 1BE on top of the 250 Leopard 1A5 MBTs bought from Germany. The army command formally approved in October 2019 the plan to upgrade its main battle tank fleet as part of the Armoured Forces - New Cuirass subprogramme that itself forms part of its strategic programme Obtaining Full Operational Capability (Prg EE OCOP). The Leopard 1A5BR will receive a new electric drive turret and control system, a driver's thermal imager, climate control unit, a remote-controlled weapon station, and an automatic fire suppression system for the engine compartment, as well as upgrades to the command and control (C2) and fire control systems. The service will also add a combat dozer blade, a full-width surface clearance device, and add-on armor protection kits to the vehicles.
Upgraded Leopard 1A5BR delivered to the Brazilian 6th Armored Cavalry Regiment (Picture source: Twitter account of Brazilian army)
