Leopard 2E

Leopard 2E
Spanish Leopard 2E in Zaragoza, June 2008
Type	Main battle tank
Place of origin	Germany/Spain
Service history
In service	December 2003–present
Used by	Spain
Production history
Designer	Krauss-Maffei Wegmann
Manufacturer	General Dynamics Santa Bárbara Sistemas
Unit cost	€10.95m including spares etc
Produced	2003–08
No. built	219
Specifications
Weight	approx. 63 tonnes (69.4 tons)
Length	7.7 m (25.26 ft)
Width	3.7 m (12.14 ft)
Height	3.0 m (9.84 ft)
Crew	4
Armor	Composite armor
Main armament	Rheinmetall 120 mm L/55
Secondary armament	2 × 7.62 mm MG3s
Engine	MTU MB 873 Ka-501 12-cylinder diesel 1,500 PS (1,479 hp, 1,103 kW) at 2600 rpm
Power/weight	23.8 PS/t (17.5 kW/t)
Transmission	Renk HSWL 354
Suspension	Torsion-bar
Fuel capacity	1,060 liters (208.02 gallons)
Operational range	500 km (310 mi)
Speed	72 km/h (44.74 mi/h)

The Leopard 2E or Leopard 2A6E (E stands for España, Spanish for Spain) is a variant of the German Leopard 2 main battle tank, tailored to the requirements of the Spanish army, which acquired it as part of an armament modernization program named Programa Coraza, or Program Breastplate. The acquisition program for the Leopard 2E began in 1994, five years after the cancellation of the Lince tank program that culminated in an agreement to transfer 108 Leopard 2A4s to the Spanish army in 1998 and started the local production of the Leopard 2E in December 2003. Despite postponement of production owing to the 2003 merger between Santa Bárbara Sistemas and General Dynamics, and continued fabrication issues between 2006 and 2007, 219 Leopard 2Es have been delivered to the Spanish army.

The Leopard 2E is a major improvement over the M60 Patton tank, which it replaced in Spain's mechanized and armored units. Its development represented a total of 2.6 million man-hours worth of work, 9,600 of them in Germany, at a total cost of 2.4 billion euros. This makes it one of the most expensive Leopard 2s built. Indigenous production amounted to 60% and the vehicles were assembled locally at Sevilla by Santa Bárbara Sistemas. It has thicker armor on the turret and glacis plate than the German Leopard 2A6, and uses a Spanish-designed tank command and control system, similar to the one fitted in German Leopard 2s. The Leopard 2E is expected to remain in service until 2025.

By 1987, the Spanish army was equipped with 299 French-designed AMX-30Es, assembled by Santa Bárbara Sistemas, and 552 American M47 and M48 Patton tanks. The AMX-30Es were put into service in 1970, while the latter went into service in the mid-1950s. Although Spain's M47s and M48s were modernized to M47Es and M48Es, bringing them to near equivalence with the M60 Patton tank, the Spanish army considered them antiquated. In 1984, when deciding to replace its Patton tanks, the Spanish government declared its intention to produce a whole new main battle tank locally, since known as the Lince. Five companies expressed interest in bidding, including Krauss-Maffei in a partnership with Santa Bárbara Sistemas, GIAT with what became the Leclerc, General Dynamics with the M1 Abrams and Vickers with the Valiant. While the M1 Abrams and Valiant bids were not accepted, the bidding continued until 1989 when it was officially canceled.