The Ministry of Defense of the Czech Republic announced that four agreements relating to cooperation in the so-called Ringtausch have been signed today in Prague. The first is for the free transfer of fourteen Leopard 2A4 tanks and the Bergepanzer 3 Büffel technical support vehicle (based on the improved Leopard 2 chassis).
On the Czech side, the document was signed by the commander of the land forces, Major General Ladislav Jung and the director of the logistics section of the Ministry of National Defense, Colonel Róbert Bielený, and on the side of the German government – by the Federal Director for Armaments, Vice-Admiral Carsten Stawitzki. On behalf of Rheinmetall, the signatures were Björn Bernhard, chairman of the land vehicle division, and Oliver Mittelsdorf, vice president of sales.
The information about the contract was confirmed by representatives of Rheinmetall AG, but did not disclose a specific number of vehicles that would be delivered to the Czech Army. The Czechs will receive German military equipment in exchange for helping the armed forces of Ukraine. Equipment deliveries will start in December.
Both sides agree that the tanks that the Czech armored personnel will receive will be fully operational. They were purchased by Rheinmetall from the armed forces of Switzerland and Germany, and are currently undergoing repairs and necessary modifications agreed with the Czech side. The biggest improvements will be introduced in the area of means of communication, where the communication system will be modified according to the needs.
Rheinmetall ensures that the Czechs will also receive an ammunition package, an integrated service package for training services and the supply of spare parts. Implementation will last until the end of next year, with the exception of the technical support vehicle, which will be delivered to Pozemní síly Armády České republiky in mid-2024.
Tank swap: #Rheinmetall supplying the Czech Republic with Leopard 2A4 MBTs and Büffel ARV. Contract today signed in Prague between representatives of 🇩🇪 and 🇨🇿 and Rheinmetall. # Military #army https://t.co/T59LDRtNk9 pic.twitter.com/GELkeZ0jAL
– Rheinmetall (@RheinmetallAG) October 11, 2022
Another agreement was signed by the defense ministries of the Czech Republic and Germany. It is a Memorandum of Understanding, a Training Implementation Agreement and an Administrative Agreement. The first courses for Czech drivers will begin next week at the Bundeswehr’s training center in Münster. The second drivers’ course will take place in the first half of next year.
The crews will also undergo training, which will start after the delivery of the appropriate number of vehicles. They will take place in the Práslavice garrison under the command of the Bundeswehr’s so-called Mobile Training Team (MTT). They will include training in the use of tanks with an emphasis on fire tests and the combat use of the Leopard 2A4. At the same time, the training of instructors will start, who together with MTT soldiers will conduct another course, and then take the leading role and conduct the last courses only with the support of the Mobile Training Team.
The Czech land forces are equipped with thirty-three T-72M4CZs, which serve in the 73rd tank battalion with barracks in Přáslavice of the 7th Mechanized Brigade from Hranice.
(Adam Hauner, Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International)
The Czech T-72M4CZ tanks are struggling with efficiency problems, which are currently undergoing refurbishment at the VOP CZ plants. The vehicles of the 73rd Přáslavice Battalion are awaiting the planned technical evaluation, but will remain in service anyway until they are replaced with new tanks. Acquiring Leopard 2A4s will help Czech armored personnel gain experience in operating German machines, and thus create conditions for the transition to a new type of tank corresponding to NATO standards.
The war in Ukraine accelerated the replacement of the tank fleet in many former Soviet bloc countries that donate old equipment to Ukrainians. Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala announced on August 29 that he had handed over seventy-two T-72M1s to Kiev. In May, the Czech service Armádní Noviny reported that Defense Minister Jana Černochová together with a group of Czech negotiators agreed that the Czech Republic would receive a donation from Germany in the form of twenty 2A4 Leopards (so only five were mistaken). Moreover, Prague is to buy at least forty new Leopard 2A7 +. This will cost the Czech taxpayer between 607.5 and 810 million euros. The Czechs positively evaluate the choice of the German car, as the British Challenger 2 or the French Leclerc are no longer produced, and the tanks from outside Europe – the American Abrams and the Korean K2 Heuk-Pyo – would make them too dependent on the manufacturers.
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