Finland To Purchase Leopard MBTs Worth 200 Million Euros

The Finnish Ministry of Defence (MoD) will acquire second-hand Leopard 2A6 main battle tanks (MBTs) from the Netherlands, according to Army Technology.

In a letter to the Dutch Parliament's Lower House, defence minister Jeanine Antoinette Hennis-Plasschaert noted that the contract is likely to be signed next week during the visit of Finnish defence minister, Carl Haglund, to the Netherlands.

The contract worth 200 million euros will cover 100 Leopard 2A6 tanks, as well as associated training materials, spare parts, special tools, training ammunition and personnel training. The new equipment will be delivered in 2015. 

A small number of bridgelaying tanks and engineer tanks currently remain in service with the Royal Netherlands Army, following the Ministry of Defence's (MoD) decision to retire the Leopard 2A6 fleet in wake of budgetary constraints in April 2011.

The Netherlands had previously tried to sell the tanks to Indonesia, but the sale was strongly opposed by Dutch legislators, citing rampant human rights violations across the archipelago, especially in Papua New Guinea.

Developed by Krauss-Maffei Wegmann (KMW), the 60t Leopard 2A6 is an advanced variant of Leopard 2A5 MBT, featuring an auxiliary engine, improved mine protection and an air-conditioning system.