The Leopards that Canada is donating are among the 112 currently owned by the Canadian Army, which includes 82 designed specifically for combat. Ukraine has implored Western allies to send such weapons for weeks as its forces struggle to make gains against Russia.īut Canada was unable to respond until Germany agreed on Wednesday that countries could re-export their Leopards. The name Rheinmetall is closely associated with the Leopard 2: out of a total of 2125 Leopard 2 tanks for the German Army, Rheinmetall completely built 977 in Kiel on behalf of the German and Dutch armed forces.OTTAWA - Defence Minister Anita Anand says Canada will send four of its German-made Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine “in the coming weeks.”Īnand announced the move this afternoon, making Canada the latest country to promise the heavy weapons to Ukraine.Ĭanada is also providing trainers, spare parts and ammunition, while Anand left open the possibility of sending more Leopards in the future. The Canadian Forces deployed the battle-tested Leopard 2 with great success in Afghanistan, where intensive use of the system far exceeded the original requirements profile. Canada is a longstanding member of the world’s far-flung family of Leopard user nations having also operated the previous generation Leopard 1. Mechanized forces consisting of main battle tanks continue to be an essential element of modern high-mobility warfare. Under a C$36M contract, Rheinmetall Canada is the prime contractor and technical authority for this repair and overhaul contract of 42 Leopard 2 tanks.įollowing substantial investment by Rheinmetall to improve Rheinmetall Canada’s infrastructure, work on the Leopard 2 tanks is proceeding well, and the company is proud to acknowledge this important milestone. Today Rheinmetall Canada marks the delivery of the first six Leopard 2 main battle tanks to the Canadian Army. : Rheinmetall Canada delivers first Leopard 2 tanks to Canadian Army

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