Rheinmetall AG has bought around 30 Leopard 1 A5 battle tanks from a Belgian company on behalf of the German government as part of a package of military hardware for Ukraine unveiled at last month’s NATO summit.
(Bloomberg) — Rheinmetall AG has bought around 30 Leopard 1 A5 battle tanks from a Belgian company on behalf of the German government as part of a package of military hardware for Ukraine unveiled at last month’s NATO summit.
A spokesman for the Dusseldorf-based arms manufacturer confirmed the purchase, which was first reported by the Handelsblatt newspaper. He declined to provide further details.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s government announced the €700 million ($769 million) package of additional support for the Ukrainian military, including 25 Leopard I tanks and five armored recovery vehicles, at the NATO meeting in Vilnius.
Germany is the second-biggest supplier of arms to the government in Kyiv after the US, having donated equipment worth around €7.5 billion since January 2022, according to the Kiel Institute’s Ukraine Support Tracker. That compares with about €43 billion from the Biden administration.
For a full list of German military support for Ukraine, last updated on Friday, click here.
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