Finland has taken delivery of the first 20 Leopard 2A6 MBTs from the Netherlands

[Gabriel92]

On January 16th 2014 the Finnish Minister of Defence approved the proposal for acquiring one hundred usedLeopard 2A6 main battle tanks for the Finnish Army. The first 20 of those tanks arrived as planned in Finland on May 14.

The main battle tanks acquired from the Netherlands will be delivered to Finland between 2015 and 2019. The purchase price is €199,9 million. The acquisition will secure the striking force of the Army until the 2030's.

This acquisition does not require any extra financing but is included in the budget planned for the defence administration.

Other options for this acquisition would have been to upgrade the life cycle for the Leopard 2A4 main battle tanks that the Finnish Defence Forces use today or to buy new main battle tanks. The cost for a life cycle upgrade of the Leopard 2A4 main battle tanks to Leopard 2A6 level would have been approx. €5 million per tank and for acquiring new Leopard main battle tanks approx. €10 million per tank.

The used Leopard 2A6 main battle tanks that will now be acquired were modernized between 2000 and 2006 and their performance is considerably better than the performance of the main battle tanks now in use by the Finnish Army. The new main battle tanks have greater fire-power, better developed ballistic protection and a system for the leader to independently act in the dark as well as an inside splinter protection.

The main battle tank acquisition also includes spare parts for ten years, inside simulators, maintenance simulators, special tools and testing equipment as well as ammunition.

The Leopard 2A4 main battle tanks that the Finnish Defence Forces use today will continue to be in operative use and be used by the reserve until the end of their life cycle. They will also be used for driver's training and as spare parts for the new main battle tanks.

Finland has taken delivery of the first 20 Leopard 2A6 MBTs from the Netherlands 15051512 | May 2015 Global Defense Security news UK | Defense Security global news industry army 2015

 

[Rowe992]

Those tanks look amazing but what use does Finland has for them? I think these are a waste of money frankly because Finland may never use them in a war and therefore they are not needed for that. If they got them just for the army to practice then that is okay.

 

[Gabriel92]

Those tanks look amazing but what use does Finland has for them? I think these are a waste of money frankly because Finland may never use them in a war and therefore they are not needed for that. If they got them just for the army to practice then that is okay.

Actually it's true that Finland faces no threats,but they arm themselves in case of Russia invades/attacks them as they did in the past,and since Russia's acting agressively these times...

 

[crimsonghost747]

These are part of the upgrade process that pretty much every credible army in the world is going through almost contantly. The decision to upgrade their MBTs was made years ago, the deal with The Netherlands about these specific ones was also inked before any of this Russia/Ukraine stuff. These things are not done in a matter of days or weeks, this plan has been in motion for years.

And Rowe992, it's a bit too late to start buying stuff when you need it. That is why countries have a military in the first place, to have the capability to immediately defend themselves and to provide a deterrent.