United to win: Spain completes repair of ten Leopard 2 tanks for Ukraine

Ten Leopard 2A4 tanks, which Spain promised to deliver to Ukraine, have been repaired and restored by the defense company Santa Barbara Sistemas: nine more tanks will be ready by September this year.

This was reported in the Infodefense media outlet, Rubryka writes.

What is the problem?

In March, the Spanish government announced its intention to transfer 19 Leopard 2A4 tanks to the Ukrainian army this year.

Leopard 2A4 tanks for the Ukrainian ground forces arrived from the army barracks in Zaragoza, where they had been stored in an inactive state since 2012.

Today, about 60 tanks remain at the storage base, of which 10 have already been transferred to Ukraine, and another 19 are awaiting transfer.

However, unlike the first batch, these tanks were in worse condition, requiring more thorough maintenance.

What is the solution?

Therefore, the Spanish defense company Santa Barbara Sistemas undertook the repair and restoration of ten Leopard 2A4 tanks that Spain had promised to hand over to Ukraine and successfully fulfilled the task.

How does it work?

Work on restoring the tanks is taking place at the facilities of Alcalá de Guadaira in Seville. In 2023, the first 10 Leopard 2A4s, which Spain handed over to the Armed Forces of Ukraine, were repaired there. They were sent to Ukraine in two stages—in April and September.

Now, the Spanish defense industry has coped with the commitments and managed to restore the first batch of 10 Leopard 2A4 in record time—just three months.

At the end of June, the Leopard tanks were already ready for transfer.

At the same time, Infodefense also has data that all ten restored Leopard 2A4s have successfully passed the serviceability test of all nodes and units during field tests.

This, in turn, confirms that Ukraine should really wait for the delivery of these machines shortly.

The remaining nine tanks from the second batch are already at the plant in Alcalá de Guadeira and will be ready by September.

Thus, the number of Leopard 2 tanks delivered to the Armed Forces of Ukraine will increase to 29 units.

It should be noted that Spain began to receive leased Leopard 2 tanks in 1995 under a leasing contract for training and then decided to purchase some.

What is known about the Leopard 2A4

The German Leopard 2A4 is a main battle tank known for its firepower, improved protection, and overall performance. It is armed with a 120mm L55 smoothbore gun, a coaxial 7.62mm machine gun, and a 7.62mm anti-aircraft machine gun mounted on the loader's hatch.

In terms of protection, the tank has standard multi-layer armor reinforced in the front part of the turret. The inner part of the tower is equipped with anti-collision tabs, which increases the safety of the four-person crew.

The tank develops a maximum speed of 72 km/h and has a range of 500 km. The Leopard 2A4 is equipped with advanced technologies, including an infrared night vision device and a system of protection against nuclear, biological, and chemical (NBC) weapons, which enhances its combat capabilities. Many countries use the tank.