The German Federal Ministry of Defence announced on 11 July 2024 the procurement of 105 Leopard 2A8 battle tanks, the latest generation of the platform with combat improvements, to support Germany’s combat brigade in Lithuania on the Russian border, Panzerbrigade 45, the first permanent foreign deployment for German troops since WW2.
The permanent deployment of troops and materiel to Lithuania is seen by Germany as necessary to respond quickly to any change in the security situation on Nato’s eastern flank.
It is expected that the 105 new battle tanks in the newest order will join troops in the Lithuania Brigade between 2027 and 2030. Panzerbrigade 45’s 4,800 German soldiers will be permanently stationed in Lithuania and combat ready by 2027, following the signing of an agreement in December 2023 of the deployment. The transfer of troops began with an advanced team of 20 staff in April 2024.
€2.9bn to be spent on the latest variant of the Leopard 2
The funds for the programme approved from the Bundeswehr special fund and the regular defence fund by the Budget Committee of the German Bundestag on 3 July amount to €2.9bn ($3.1bn). This will be the second procurement of the A8 variant of the Leopard 2 tank, following a decision in May 2023 to replace stock donated to Ukraine by buying 18 of the main battle tanks, expected to be delivered between 2025 and 2026.
The Leopard 2A8 variant is a main battle tank similar to the Leopard 2A7V, but with improvements to increase the combat value, such a next generation of multi-layered armour composed of steel, tungsten, composite filler, and ceramic components, and a passive armour kit, as well as reinforcements to the underbelly to protect against mine detonation.
The new variant of the Leopard 2 is also equipped with the Trophy Active Protection System (APS), procured by Germany from Rafael in February 2021. The Trophy APS uses a sophisticated radar system to track multiple targets from all directions, and deploys a dense cloud of countermeasure pellets with foreknowledge of the projectile threat’s trajectory and velocity, to protect the Leopard 2A8 and its crew of four.
Opposition to permanently deploying in Lithuania
The decision to permanently station German troops in Lithuania was subject to some public wrangling among senior Nato officials, as Admiral Rob Bauer stated on 3 July 2023 that the possible permanent deployment to Lithuania: “... is not in line with what was decided in Madrid,” referencing the Nato summit in Madrid in June 2022. In the months following the full-scale invasion of Ukraine it was decided in Madrid to have eight battalion battle groups, normally of the order of 300 to 800 soldiers, stationed across Bulgaria, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania and Slovakia, to defend Nato’s eastern front.
The source of contention over the move to station troops in Lithuania permanently can be traced to an existing 1997 Nato-Russia Foundation Act that forbids such permanent deployments along Russia’s border. However, Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda said on 10 July the treaty with Russia that deterred the defence of Nato’s eastern front as ‘dead’, killed by Russia’s announcement to deploy tactical nuclear weapons to Belarus, and that Nato should scrap its constraints on establishing permanent bases near Russia’s borders.
