Denmark and Germany to receive latest KMW Leopard 2A7 main battle tank


Krauss-Maffei Wegmann (KMW) has handed the latest versions of the Leopard 2 over to Denmark and Germany. Frank Haun, Chairman of the Board of KMW, presented the symbolic keys of the first two vehicle systems to the Ambassador of the Kingdom of Denmark, Friis Arne Petersen, and the Parliamentary State Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Defence, Dr. Peter Tauber.


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Leopard 2A7


Both nations are receiving comparable variants of the Leopard 2A7 main battle tank. Protection, mobility, firepower and commandability were significantly increased. The main features include an even higher protection level, high-performance power supply, new NBC and air conditioning systems as well as the integration of C4I systems in order to meet the requirements of modern, networked operation. The modernisation of the driveline and a further optimisation of the weapon stabilisation during travel bolster the vehicles’ agility and combat performance.

The Danish army will receive a total of 44 Leopard 2A7 vehicles by 2022. The Leopard 2A7 is a modernized version of the Leopard 2A6 main battle tank. The main features of this new upgrade of the Leopard 2 tank include a new armor, energy system, crew compartment cooling system, and new weapon engagement system.


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Leopard 2A7V


The German Federal Armed Forces will have 104 Leopard 2A7V vehicles by 2023. KMW will be responsible to retrofit older Leopard 2 to the 2A7V variants. The first serially retrofitted Leopard 2A7V tanks should reach the Bundeswehr in 2020. The Leopard 2A7V is the latest version of German-made main battle tank (MBT) in the Leopard 2 family, that was unveiled in June 2016, at Eurosatory, the international defense exhibition which was held in Paris, France. All 104 Leopard 2A7V tanks will be capable of using Rheinmetall’s new programmable DM11 multipurpose round.

A total of 68 Leopard 2A4, 16 Leopard 2A6 and 20 Leopard 2A7 main battle tanks will be retrofited, bringing them up to A7V standard. In the process, they will be eliminating obsolescent features in the fire control computers and control consoles as well as installing a new laser rangefinder and thermal imaging device.