The Czech Republic and Germany have signed an agreement to deliver 14 Leopard tanks and one Buffel 3 tank to Prague as compensation for supplying weapons to Ukraine.
In February, the Ministry of Defense received an offer from the German defense industry to purchase another 14 Leopard 2A4 battle tanks and a Büffel 3 recovery tank under conditions similar to those for the German Ministry of Defense. Specifically, the Czech Republic could receive another 14 battle tanks and one recovery tank as a gift. The price would be in the lower hundreds of millions of euros.
“The Army of the Czech Republic has evaluated that accepting the German offer in full would be beneficial for the defense of the Czech Republic. The donation and subsequent purchase of German tanks would clearly increase the capabilities of the tank battalion in the short and medium term,” noted Chief of the General Staff Karel Řehka in February.
Reuters, citing the Czech Ministry of Defense, specified that the first tanks are planned for the end of this year, with subsequent batches to be delivered to the republic by the beginning of 2026.
In addition to the gift of 14 battle tanks and one recovery tank, Prime Minister Petr Fiala’s cabinet acknowledged ongoing negotiations for the possible purchase of the same number of Leopard 2A4 tanks from the German defense industry.
In 2022-2023, Germany already delivered 15 tanks of the same model to the Czech Republic.
At the same time, the ministry continues negotiations to join the project for the most modern Leopard tanks in the 2A8 version.
If current negotiations are successfully concluded, the Czech Army would have 42 Leopard 2A4 battle tanks and three recovery tanks on the same chassis. After the new Leopard 2A8 tanks are delivered, the Czech Army will have enough tanks of both versions for the active reserve, training, and mobilization stocks.
