The Leopard 2E is a variant of the German Leopard 2 main battle tank. It replaced the M60 Patton tank in Spain’s mechanized and armored units. Indigenous production amounted to 60% and the vehicles were assembled locally at Sevilla by Santa Bárbara Sistemas.
About Leopard 2E in brief
The Leopard 2E is a variant of the German Leopard 2 main battle tank. It replaced the M60 Patton tank in Spain’s mechanized and armored units. The Leopard 2E is one of the most expensive Leopard 2s built. Indigenous production amounted to 60% and the vehicles were assembled locally at Sevilla by Santa Bárbara Sistemas. It uses a Spanish-designed tank command and control system, similar to the one fitted in German Leopard2s. It is expected to remain in service until 2025. It has thicker armor on the turret and glacis plate than theGerman Leopard 2A6. It was developed as part of an armament modernization program named Programa Coraza, or Program Cuirass. The acquisition program for the Leopard2E began in 1994, five years after the cancellation of the Lince tank program. The program’s scope extended to the integration of 108 Leopard 24s, which were leased to Spain in late 1995.
It also included the Pizarro infantry combat vehicle as well as the Eurocopter Tiger attack helicopter. The German government agreed to lend the Spanish army 108 Leopard2A4s for five years for training purposes for a period of five years. These were to be assembled in Spain, with 60–70 percent of the components manufactured by the Spanish companies, taking place between 1998 and 2003. The Spanish army was originally to receive 532 M60 and M60A1 tanks, but only 260 M 60A3s were ultimately delivered, of which 244 were put into active service in the army. In the late 1980s, the Spanish Ministry of Defense approved a modernization program for 150 of its AMX-30Es and a reconstruction program for remaining 149 vehicles of this type, restoring them to their original condition. By 1987 the Spanish Army was equipped with 552 American M47 and M48 Patton tanks.
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This page is based on the article Leopard 2E published in Wikipedia (as of Dec. 08, 2020) and was automatically summarized using artificial intelligence.
