Rheinmetall To Modernize Polish 128 Leopard 2 MBTs For 200 Million Euro

Rheinmetall has won a 220 million euro contract for overhauling Poland’s 128 Leopard 2 main battle tanks (MBT).

In cooperation with Poland’s Polska Grupa Zbrojeniowa (PGZ) and ZM Bumar-Łabędy, Rheinmetall will serve as a strategic partner, supplying crucial key capabilities, including electronics and weapon technology, the company said in a statement Tuesday.

During the course of modernization, the 128 Leopard 2 A4 main battle tanks purchased in 2002 by the Polish Army from surplus Bundeswehr stocks will be upgraded to Leopard 2 PL standard, which corresponds to the German Leopard 2 A5 and A6.

Following Canada and Indonesia, Poland is now the third Leopard user nation to turn to Rheinmetall as the technology partner of choice for a major modernization programme. Besides the Bundeswehr, the armed forces of 17 countries now have Leopard 2 tanks in their inventories.

On 28 December 2015, the Armament Inspectorate of the Polish armed forces awarded PGZ (as general contractor) and ZM Bumar-Łabędy (as integrator) a contract to upgrade the combat effectiveness of the Leopard 2 A4. Rheinmetall played a key role in preparing the upgrade package, having already established itself as a strategic partner by this point. Just signed, the contract lays out the details of Rheinmetall’s role in the modernization package.