After the Council of States approved the decommissioning of 25 Leopard 2A4 battle tanks from the Swiss Army last week, the Swiss Federal Council can now sell the tanks to Germany.
In June, the National Council approved the corresponding request from Federal Councilor Viola Amherd, who heads the responsible Department of Defense, Civil Protection and Sport (DDPS).
In February, Federal Ministers Robert Habeck and Boris Pistorius asked the Swiss government to allow some of the decommissioned tanks to be bought back. The purchase should be made by Rheinmetall. The tanks would not be forwarded to Ukraine, but would be used to fill equipment gaps in Germany or with NATO or EU partners (ES&T reported).
This request sparked discussions among the public and both chambers of parliament. The focus was on the company's own need for tanks and the Swiss neutrality requirement, which does not allow the export of defense equipment to parties to the conflict.
From 1987 onwards, Switzerland introduced a total of 380 Leopard 2 main battle tanks under the designation Panzer 87. As part of the armaments program, 134 tanks were modernized to the 87 WE tank according to the Leopard 2A4 standard. 96 tanks were stored. The rest was converted into twelve recovery and bridge-laying tanks or sold, including to Rheinmetall.
According to the DDBS, the army needs an additional 34 tanks and twelve tanks for training to fully equip the six tank battalions. These may need to be reactivated and modernized. 25 tanks are to be used as spare parts and assembly donors. Therefore, of the 96 tanks in storage, 25 remain, which can be decommissioned and sold according to parliamentary decisions.
It is now the turn of the Federal Council's Department of Economics, Education and Research to assess the export application and submit it to the Federal Council for a decision. The tanks could then be sold to Rheinmetall.
Due to the sharp increase in demand for battle tanks due to the war in Ukraine, the market for used tanks has been wiped out. The 25 tanks from Switzerland will be very popular.
Editors / gwh
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