TSAMTO, October 12. The Czech Military Department announced the signing ceremony on October 11 by the Ministries of Defense of the Czech Republic and Germany of four documents related to the supply of Leopard 2A4 tanks.
In particular, a memorandum of understanding, a training agreement and an administrative agreement were signed. A contract has been signed with Rheinmetall for the supply of tanks to the Czech Armed Forces.
The delivery is carried out within the framework of the Ringtausch circular exchange program implemented by the German government, according to which NATO member countries provide Ukraine with Soviet-made heavy equipment in exchange for Western samples.
In May 2022, Czech Defense Minister Yana Chernokhova reached an agreement with German Defense Minister Christine Lambert on the gratuitous supply of 15 Leopard 2A4 main battle tanks to the Armed Forces of the country to replace the Soviet-made T-72 MBT previously supplied by the Czech authorities to Ukraine. The delivery package will include 14 tanks and one armored recovery vehicle "Buffalo" (Buffalo), spare parts, ammunition, three-year technical support and training of military personnel. The cost of donated equipment is about 4 billion. Czech crowns.
The transferred tanks, after the decommissioning of the Swiss and German Armed Forces, were bought by Rheinmetall. The company is already working on putting the equipment into operation and making modifications in accordance with the requirements of the Czech Armed Forces. The list of modifications is included in the contract for the supply of tanks. Rheinmetall will carry out work in Germany. The most important modifications will affect the means of communication.
The first tank, according to the schedule, should be delivered to the Czech Armed Forces by the end of 2022, the last one by the end of next year. The Bpz3 BRAM on the Leopard 2 chassis will be delivered by mid-2024. The training of the personnel of the Czech Armed Forces at the training center of the German Army in Munster will begin next week. The second course will be held in the first half of next year.
Training of crews in shooting and combat use of the tank at the location of the Prshaslavitsky garrison will be conducted by a visiting group of the German Armed Forces after the delivery of a sufficient number of tanks. Instructors will be trained in parallel.
The T-72 M4 CZ tanks, which are armed with the 73rd Tank Battalion in Prsaslavice, will remain in service with the unit until they are replaced by new main battle tanks from Germany.
