Leopard migrates eastward (ES14E2)

CHRISTOPHER F FOSS
17 June 2014

Indonesia is taking delivery of 103 Leopard 2 MBTs from Rheinmetall, with the first two units delivered late in 2013 and additional vehicles following this year.

Of the 103 Leopard 2s, 42 are refurbished Leopard 2A4s and are referred to as Leopard 2A4+ and the remaining 61 will be upgraded to the RI standard, which includes elements of the Rheinmetall MBT Revolution. They will retain their Rheinmetall 120mm L/44 smoothbore guns but will have the capability to fire the latest Rheinmetall 120mm DM11 programmable high-explosive round.

The Leopard 2A4+ has the new all-electric gun control equipment and air-conditioning system, while the vehicles upgraded to the RI standard will have additional capability. Indonesia is also taking delivery of 10 Leopard 1 support vehicles, including armoured recovery vehicles (ARVs) and armoured engineering vehicles (AEVs).

In addition to marketing MBT Revolution, Rheinmetall is a key provider of Leopard 2 based support vehicles, including the Kodiak AEV, a joint development between Rheinmetall and RUAG Defence of Switzerland, which is based on a surplus Leopard 2 MBT hull modified for its new mission.

The Kodiak AEV has already been ordered by the Netherlands (10), Sweden (six) and Switzerland (12). Kodiak production is now under way for an undisclosed customer in Asia – understood to be Singapore – with first deliveries due in late 2014.

Rheinmetall is now the sole source for the Buffel ARV, with a batch of German vehicles being upgraded for deployment to Afghanistan. In addition to building brand new Buffels, Rheinmetall can convert older Leopard 2 hulls into the latest ARV configuration.

Singapore has taken delivery of two batches of Buffel ARVs from Rheinmetall, while Rheinmetall Canada is converting 12 surplus Leopard 2 MBT hulls into Buffel ARVs for Canada. It is upgrading 42 Leopard 2 MBTs for the training role. Canada and Indonesia have awarded contracts to Rheinmetall for Leopard Gunnery Skills Training (LGST) as well as driving simulators.

Rheinmetall has also sold 146 Marder 1A3 infantry fighting vehicles to Chile, while Indonesia is taking delivery of a batch of 42 plus eight spare Marder 1A3s, with the first two units delivered late in 2013.