BERLIN (dpa-AFX) - The Leopard main battle tanks earmarked for so-called ring exchanges with Slovakia and the Czech Republic will be fully refurbished in the spring, according to defense contractor Rheinmetall. "These tanks belong to the German government. It can do what it wants with them," Group CEO Armin Papperger told Stern magazine. He added that Rheinmetall had some 29 Leopard 2A4 main battle tanks ready for deployment by the end of March, which had been earmarked for the ring exchange. A Rheinmetall spokesman, on the other hand, told Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland (RND) that the 29 ring exchange tanks would be "ready in April/May 2023."

The German government has organized part of the military aid for Ukraine in its defensive struggle against Russia as an exchange with eastern NATO partners. These give Soviet-style weapons to Ukraine in exchange for more modern replacements from Germany. In the course of these so-called ring swaps, Germany has promised 15 Leopard tanks to Slovakia and 14 to the Czech Republic - these are refurbished vehicles from Rheinmetall stocks, and both countries received their first vehicle in December. Recently, pressure had grown on Germany to supply Leopard tanks to Ukraine.

Against the backdrop of this debate, Rheinmetall's CEO had recently made headlines by saying that repairing Leopard tanks from his stocks would take "just under a year." Papperger now said some people had "misunderstood important things" in the process. "I was talking about the 22 Leopard tanks that are at Rheinmetall and belong to Rheinmetall. I stand by that, they won't be ready before the end of this year." Regarding the condition of the vehicles, he explained, "Some of these tanks stood there for ten years with the hatch open, they're moldy inside."

The Rheinmetall spokesman told RND about these 22 tanks, "Delivery would be possible in late 2023/early 2024." In addition, there would be the 29 Leopard tanks in the works for ring exchange projects. "Of the Leopard 1, we could make 88 vehicles available," he added. So in total, we're talking about 139 Leopard tanks. At the same time, he said, the mixed situation is "very volatile" due to the security policy environment, various forms of direct or indirect delivery, and changing priorities for orders. "That's why it's difficult, for example, to name specific timeframes for deliveries."/sku/DP/zb