COLOGNE, Germany \u2014 Germany\u2019s KNDS this week unveiled the Leopard 2A8, the latest version of the venerable main battle tank that has become a staple of armored formations for more than a dozen countries in Europe and beyond.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The tank will be a new build, the first for the Leopard series since 1992, according to German defense officials, after several previous versions that were modernizations of existing tanks. The German army is slated to get 123 of the behemoths weighing nearly 70 metrics ton, with deliveries beginning in 2027 and to be finalized in 2030.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
New features include a locally-produced version of the Trophy active protection system by Israel\u2019s Rafael designed to fend off incoming projectiles. German officials tested Trophy on a previous iteration of the Leopard tank and decided to make it standard equipment for the new series.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
According to a Ministry of Defense statement, additional improvements in the A8 variant include better armor and an overall rework of situational-awareness and fire-control features for the crew.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As in previous Leopard iterations, Rheinmetall\u2019s 120mm smooth-bore main cannon will remain part of the weapons package.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The first batch of new Leopards is slated for a Bundeswehr armored formation in Lithuania, Germany\u2019s first permanent deployment of troops outside its borders since World War II. The unit there is part of Berlin\u2019s contributions to securing countries on NATO\u2019s eastern flank that are deemed vulnerable to Russian aggression.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The brigade-strong unit of 5,000 personnel is slated to achieve full operational status in 2027, coinciding with the first year of Leopard 2A8 deliveries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Besides Germany, order books for the new Leopard are filling up, with Lithuania, the Netherlands, the Czech Republic and Norway all planning to add the type to their armies.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Order books for the new variant are filling up, with Lithuania, the Netherlands, the Czech Republic and Norway all planning to use the latest Leopard.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":119928,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":46,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[160,46,11,14,36],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3425],"class_list":["post-70925","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news-roundup","category-europe","category-global","category-land","category-newsletters"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"KUAXZY2CEJCNNNMYDBCBV3ETOU","arc_canonical_url":"\/global\/europe\/2025\/11\/20\/knds-unveils-the-leopard-2a8-first-new-battle-tank-build-since-1992\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"\n