The Finnish Ministry of Defence (Puolustusministeri) has authorised the Finnish Defence Forces (Puolustusvoimat) to signal a contract on the firing management system ballistics improve for the Finnish Military (Maavoimat) Leopard 2 A4 and a pair of A6 foremost battle tanks. The procurement will improve the potential of the Leopard 2 A4 and a pair of A6 initially procured from Germany and the Netherlands. The contract on the improve shall be signed with Krauss-Maffei Wegmann GmbH & Co. KG from Germany.
The improve will incorporate into the Leopard MBT fleet the flexibility to fireplace new HE/FRAG projectiles along with the ammunition already in place. This may considerably enhance the MBTs firepower, utilisation alternatives and talent to offer assist to Military troops. The procurement additionally marks a brand new functionality, and the ballistics improve will allow utilizing multipurpose HE/FRAG rounds in coaching as of 2023. This matter has been ready in cooperation with Sweden, and the procurement will present Finland and Sweden with the flexibility to make use of an identical ammunition, which can enhance interoperability.
Commercial
In accordance with plan, the improve of the Leopard Essential Battle Tank fleet will begin in early 2022 to run till 2026. The full worth of the procurement with choices unique of VAT shall be c. EUR 10 million, and it is going to be financed from the Defence Forces’ materiel procurement sources as deliberate, budgeted and allotted for the aim. In Finland, the estimated employment influence shall be 3-4-person employment years in whole. The implementation can even depend on the Defence Forces’ strategic companion Millog Ltd. regarding specialist session, installments and logistics.
The Finnish Military initially purchased 124 2A4s from surplus German shares in 2003. Of those, 12 had been transformed into bridge-laying and fight engineering tanks and 12 had been disassembled to be used as spares, leaving 100 operational tanks. In 2009, the Finnish Military purchased 15 extra German surplus Leopard 2A4s for spare elements of present fleet, bringing the overall variety of Finnish Leopard 2A4 tanks to 139. On 16 January 2014, Finland agreed with the Netherlands to buy 100 used Leopard 2A6NL tanks for roughly €200 million. In 2015, many of the Leopard 2A4s had been moved into reserve, with some transformed into Marksman AA autos, bridge-laying and mine clearing tanks.
