Rheinmetall sends to Ukraine 14 Leopard 2A4 tanks

By Anthony Marcus, for Eurasia Business News, July 2, 2023

Combat vehicles for Ukraine: Rheinmetall supplies Ukraine with 14 Leopard 2A4 tanks, an order jointly financed by the Netherlands and Denmark. The Contract is worth a figure in the lower three-digit million-euro range. The delivery will take place in 2024. Denmark and the Netherlands are part of the international tank coalition providing support for Ukraine against the Russian Federation.

In April 2023 the Dutch and Danish governments announced their intention to jointly acquire Leopard 2 A4 main battle tanks for donation to Ukraine. The Dutch government therefore contracted with Rheinmetall to supply fourteen Leopard 2A4 MBTs, worth a figure in the lower three-digit million-euro range. The Dutch and Danish government are jointly financing the order as part of the international tank coalition to provide effective support for Ukraine.

Officials of the Netherlands, Denmark and Germany and representatives of Rheinmetall recently signed an agreement to this effect.

The first vehicle is scheduled for delivery in January 2024, with the last due to ship in the course of the year. The vehicles are upgraded Leopard 2A4 tanks acquired by Rheinmetall from the inventories of user nations.

The transaction underscores Rheinmetall’s role as an important supplier of materiel to the Ukrainian armed forces. It is just the latest in a series of actions taken by the Düsseldorf-based tech enterprise in support of Ukraine’s defensive war effort. In the meantime, Rheinmetall is the embattled country’s sole source of large-volume shipments of new medium- and large-calibre ammunition, including 20mm rounds for the Marder IFV’s automatic cannon and 105mm and 120mm tank ammunition for the main armament of the Ukrainian Army’s Leopard I and Leopard 2 MBTs. A first lot of 35mm ammunition for the Gepard antiaircraft tank will soon be ready for shipment as well.

The Leopard 2A4 battle tank is considered as the backbone of the German armored forces.

Rheinmetall has also been instrumental in supplying the Ukrainian military with substantial numbers of combat vehicles, whether through multilateral “Ringtausch” exchange programmes with partner nations or via direct deliveries. Back in March 2023, for instance, Rheinmetall shipped twenty Marder infantry fighting vehicles to Ukraine at the behest of the German government.  A second lot of twenty of these tried-and-tested vehicles is due to ship this summer.

By the end of 2023, Rheinmetall will also be supplying Ukraine with 26 brand-new military trucks and two state-of-the-art air defence systems. The support effort also encompasses SurveilSPIRE mobile reconnaissance systems with day- and night-capable cameras and autopiloted mini-drones. The Group is also furnishing Ukraine with a field hospital system consisting of containers and tents as well as a container-based mobile surgical station for initial treatment of trauma cases.

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Business Insider reported earlier on February 7, that Rheinmetall was to send 88 Leopard 1 tanks to Kiev, and Flensburger Fahrzeugbau Gesellschaft (FFG) will ship 99 tanks. Rheinmetall CEO Armin Papperger said the company plans to supply Ukraine with 20-25 Leopard 1 tanks by the end of 2023. The other 88, Papperger said, will be sent in 2024. According to a source in the German newspaper Sueddeutsche Zeitung, Rheinmetall and FFG are ready to repair dozens of Leopard 1 tanks if Ukraine agrees to buy them for 100 million euros.

Berlin has long hesitated to send heavy tanks to Ukraine, because of the high symbolic charge of this move. The last time German battle tanks fought against Russian tanks was during the World War II (1939-1945). Kiev has been requesting it since March 2022.

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Rheinmetall has been expanding its operations in Ukraine amid the ongoing conflict in the country since February 2022. The company has founded a joint venture with Ukrainian state-owned conglomerate Ukroboronprom in May to build and repair tanks in Ukraine, with plans to jointly produce some Rheinmetall products in Ukraine. The venture will begin by maintaining and repairing vehicles transferred to Ukraine by Germany, but will later seek to jointly produce some Rheinmetall products in Ukraine, leading to the possible joint development of military systems to export from Ukraine. The Ukrainian military has provided positive reviews of the German weaponry supplied to the country. In March 2023, Rheinmetall announced plans to build a factory in Ukraine that could produce up to 400 of the company’s envisioned Panther KF51 main battle tanks annually.

Rheinmetall AG is a publicly traded company, and its shares are traded on the Frankfurt stock exchange. The company is not owned by hedge funds, and individual investors hold 54% of the stake, while institutions hold 46%. The largest shareholder is BlackRock, Inc., with 5.3% of shares outstanding. Other major shareholders include The Vanguard Group, Inc. and Fidelity Management & Research Co. LLC. The company is headquartered in Düsseldorf, Germany, and specializes in the design, manufacture, and marketing of equipment, components, and solutions for the military and civilian industries.

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