The announcement regarding the renaming of the tanks ordered by Norway in February (initially referred to as Leopard 2A7) was made in a press release by KMW. The company explained that it was the result of discussions between KMW and the Norwegian Defence Materiel Agency (NDMA) with the aim of aligning the nomenclature with that used by the German defence procurement agency BAAINBw. In May, BAAINBw signed a contract with KMW for the production and delivery of 18 Leopard 2A8 main battle tanks, which possess all the features of the tanks ordered by Norway.
According to the press release, the Norwegian Leopard 2A8NOR tanks will be equipped with the Trophy APS passive protection system, provided by EuroTrophy. EuroTrophy is a joint venture formed by General Dynamics European Land Systems (GDELS), KMW, and the Israeli company Rafael, which developed the Trophy APS system.
KMW also stated that the Norwegian Leopard 2A8NOR tanks will have additional features compared to the vehicles contracted for the Bundeswehr. In this context, the company mentioned that the Leopard 2A8NOR tanks will be equipped with the Kongsberg ICS/CORTEX system.
