Construction begins on Lithuania's Leopard 2A8 tank production hub

A Lithuanian construction company has secured a multi-million-euro contract from Lithuania Defence Services (LDS) to build a Leopard 2A8 tank production and maintenance facility in the Kaunas Free Economic Zone.

The plant will support the assembly, maintenance and servicing of Leopard 2A8 main battle tanks and other heavy military equipment for the Lithuanian Armed Forces, as reported by Lithuanian media outlets.

Construction is scheduled to begin in August 2026 and be completed by November 2027. The first Leopard 2A8 assembled at the facility is expected to roll off the production line in late 2028.

European defence company KNDS manufactures the Leopard family of tanks. Its German subsidiary, KNDS Deutschland, and Rheinmetall Landsysteme established Lithuania Defence Services as a joint venture in 2022 to create a maintenance, repair and logistics hub for NATO military vehicles in Lithuania and across the Baltic region.

"This project is significant not only for our company, but for Lithuania as a whole. It will contribute to strengthening the country's defense infrastructure and will play an important role in ensuring the technical readiness of the Lithuanian Armed Forces in the future," said Kęstutis Vanagas, Managing Director of the construction company YIT Lietuva.

Lithuania previously ordered 44 Leopard 2A8 main battle tanks in 2024 after selecting the German-designed vehicle over the U.S.-made M1 Abrams and South Korea's K2 Black Panther during its procurement process in 2023.

By Nazrin Sadigova