After Canada, Leopard 2A4 Sets Sites On South Africa

The two main companies involved in the Leopard 2A4 both made announcements on Friday indicating that the main battle tank is making inroads in Canada and South Africa. On 7 October, Leopard producer Krauss-Maffei Wegmann (KMW) handed over the first of 20 Leopard 2 A4M CAN tanks to the Canadian armed forces at the German army’s training area in Bergen, near Hannover. The tanks will be deployed directly to Afghanistan, where the deployment of Leopard 2A6s under a leasing arrangement three years ago is credited with saving the lives of Canadian troops.


Leopard 2A4 CAN (KMW photo)

Canada commissioned KMW to upgrade 20 Leopard 2s in July 2009 for deployment to Afghanistan. The upgrade improved crew protection from mines and improvised explosive devices and added mine rollers, mine ploughs and dozer blades.


Leopard 2A4 at AAD (Rheinmetall photo)

Meanwhile, the Leopard 2A4 made its African debut at last month’s Africa Aerospace & Defence 2010 (AAD) exhibition in Cape Town, Leopard 2 120 mm gun producer Rheinmetall announced. The tank was presented during daily live demonstrations on a special test track and is probably a shoe in for replacing the South African National Defence Forces’ aging Olifant tank.

Rheinmetall photo

Tags: ar99, Leopard, Canada, SouthAfrica