Czechia is to receive 14 Leopard 2A4 vehicles and one service vehicle (presumably BPz 2). These vehicles are to be handed over by Berlin in what is known as the exchange ring (Ringtausch). According to Fiala, the first tanks are expected to arrive in Czechia 2022 is out. “This massive step forward in military cooperation just a preview of the things to come,” he said, possibly referring to the announcements made earlier this year in May about Czech plans to enter into negotiations with Krauss-Maffei Wegmann (co-manufacturer of Leopard 2) for the purchase of 40 (or 50, according to some sources) new Leopard 2A7 tanks for a total price ranging between €607.5 million and €810 million. Interestingly, it was declared that entry into negotiations and acceptance of German Leopards 2A4 did not necessarily mean that Czechia would actually purchase new Leopards 2A7. In the current situation, however, it seems that the purchase of Leopards 2A7 (probably their sub-variant V) for the 73rd Tank Battalion of the 7th Mechanised Brigade is a foregone conclusion.
A few days earlier, Slovakia also decided to receive 15 Leopard 2A4s from the Bundeswehr. If Slovakia decides to purchase the new tanks, it can be expected that the two countries will work together operating the tanks and training crews, as is the case with the CV90 MkIV infantry fighting vehicle.
