TSAMTO, November 18. The Norwegian Ministry of defense announced its intention to purchase new tanks and the selection of two potential suppliers for the project.
After preparing a report on the combat capability of the Land forces (Land Power Study / Recommendation 50 S (2017-2018)), the Norwegian Parliament decided to start a project for the purchase of tanks. The proposal must be submitted to the Storting for approval in 2021. Currently, the work continues in accordance with the established schedule.
Initially, nine different concepts were considered. After careful evaluation, two of them were selected: the purchase of new tanks or the modernization of the Leopard-2 in service to the standard corresponding to the new tank, combined with the purchase of a batch of new MBT to increase the total number.
According to defense Minister Frank Bakke-Jensen, the Ministry will contact the Storting with proposals on the number of tanks, cost structure and delivery schedule. The new long-Term defense development plan will provide that new tanks will be delivered from 2025.
In the course of a study conducted by the Army command, it was found that the modernization, which is planned as part of the "Project 5050", will not provide sufficient protection of the MBT from new ammunition available to potential opponents, and will not provide the communication capabilities necessary for the use of tanks as a whole in the brigade. These aspects will be taken into account in the new project that the defense Ministry is currently working on.
At the moment, the concept has been developed with market analysis. The works have passed external quality control. The analysis showed that two types of tanks meet the requirements of the Norwegian armed forces, including the German "Leopard-2" and South Korean K2 "black Panther". Therefore, the pre-project phase will continue based on these two applicants.
The Ministry of defense will now hold government-level talks with the German and South Korean authorities to assess opportunities for cooperation in the defense industry and market access for Norwegian-made products.
The purchase of tanks, which the government plans to submit to the Storting in 2021, will allow the country's armed forces to get modern systems that will strengthen the country's defense capability.