Lithuania Plans to Allocate More Than €460 Million for Down Payment for Leopard 2A8 Tanks

The Lithuanian government intends to allocate more than €461 million for an advance payment for Leopard 2A8 main battle tanks.

The report comes from Delfi.

This amount is provided for in a draft government resolution registered by the country’s Ministry of Finance on Monday.

It is noted that during the draft law preparation on the approval of the 2027-2027 budget, funds for those needs had not been provided.

At the end of last year, Lithuania signed a contract with KNDS Deutschland for the supply of 44 Leopard 2A8 tanks.

Already in January, Minister of National Defence Dovilė Šakalienė said that the government intended to make an advance payment under that agreement.

According to her, the advance payment will allow the army to form a tank battalion faster – by 2030.

According to the original agreement, the first tank company was to arrive in Lithuania in 2029, and a full-fledged tank battalion was to be formed in 2034.

However, in June, Šakalienė announced the government’s expectation that the first Leopard 2A8 tanks could start arriving in Lithuania in 2028, with the bulk of the tanks arriving in 2029 and the rest in 2030.

The newest main battle tanks will be part of a tank battalion of the national infantry division being formed in Lithuania.

The head of the Defense Ministry also said that negotiations were underway to assemble the ordered Leopard 2A8 tanks domestically in cooperation with local enterprises. This will keep a significant part of the contract costs within the country.

Along with the tanks, Lithuania intends to produce Swedish CV90 infantry fighting vehicles, counting on local assembly of the ordered vehicles for the countries of Northern Europe and the Baltic states.