Italy poised to purchase German Leopard 2A7 tanks PHOTO

The negotiations on the Leopard 2A7 and 2A8 main battle tanks for inclusion in the Italian Army are moving forward, according to the Italian magazine RID.

It is expected that a possible agreement between Italy and Germany is estimated at 4 to 6 billion euros, Defence Turk reported this on its Twitter page, according to Caliber.Az.

🔵🇮🇹İtalya, 🇩🇪Leopard tankları ile ilgileniyor

🔸İtalyanlar, Alman Leopard 2A7 ve 2A8 tankları ile ilgileniyor
🔸Hangi varyantta tankın tedarik edileceği henüz belli olmasa da sözleşmenin değerinin yaklaşık 4 ile 6 milyar euro arasında olması bekleniyorhttps://t.co/Gp2xUoBRZf

— Defence Turk (@Defence_Turk) June 16, 2023

It is currently unclear whether the Italian government will purchase the Leopard 2A7 main battle tank or another variant, the Leopard 2A8 main battle tank.

The Italian Army wanted to upgrade its existing Ariete main battle tanks. There was also interest in the Leopard 2A7 main battle tanks, but the top priority was to modernize existing tanks in service.

Italy currently has no Leopard 2 series tanks. Part of the Leopard 1 series was sold to Switzerland in 2016.

Italy currently has the Ariete main battle tank, developed by Italy's Iveco Fiat and Oto Melara. While the modernization of these tanks is ongoing, on the other hand, Italy is using the option of outsourcing due to insufficient numbers of main battle tanks.

The Leopard 2A7 is a modern main battle tank (also known as the 2A7+) developed by the German company Krauss-Maffei. It is an upgraded version of the Leopard 2A6 tank introduced in 2001. The Leopard 2A7 tank was created to meet the requirements of modern armed conflicts. 

The tank received a set of new armor, which provides an increased level of protection against various weapons. There is all-round protection against anti-tank grenades of common models. The hull and turret can be fitted with hinged elements of additional armor. The bottom of the vehicle is fitted with additional armor for protection against mines and other explosive devices.

The tank is fitted with a stabilised main sight and state-of-the-art EMES 15 fire control system with 4x magnification. The main sight has an integral laser rangefinder and a Zeiss thermal imaging camera, both of which are connected to the tank's fire control computer.

The tank is armed with the 120 mm Rheinmetall Rh 120 smoothbore gun with a 55-gauge barrel. The gun is equipped with the latest Rheinmetall DM63 APFSDS-T sub-caliber projectile and Rheinmetall DM11 programmable high-explosive fragmentation projectile.

The additional armament of the Leopard 2A7 tank consists of one 7.62 mm dual-caliber machine gun. Previously, it was claimed that the 2A7 project implied the use of a remote-controlled KMW FLW 200 combat module equipped with a 12.7 mm M2HB machine gun.

Interesting is the auxiliary power unit. This unit is designed to provide power to all systems of the tank when the main engine is off, which reduces fuel consumption and overall cost of vehicle operation.