The Netherlands plans to bring back tanks in its own military

29 June, 2023 German Leopard 2A7 tanks leased to the Netherlands Armed Forces, October 2021. Photo credits: Andy Meier The Dutch government is discussing the acquisition of a tank battalion after the country's decade-long rejection of this type of equipment.

Christophe van der Maat, State Secretary for Defense, announced this. The Ministry of Defense of the Netherlands is preparing to purchase tanks for a new tank battalion that is planned to be created. In 2011, the Netherlands scrapped and sold off all tanks due to a new military doctrine that had no place for heavy armored vehicles.

However, with the beginning of the Russian-Ukrainian war, the country's defense department reconsidered this decision. During a June 28 debate at the House of Representatives, van der Maat admitted that his ministry was planning to purchase a Leopard 2 tank battalion for the Netherlands Armed Forces. He also emphasized that this would require additional funds.

Leopard 2A7 of the armed forces of Germany.

Photo from open sources

The Dutch politicians are currently of the opinion that it is necessary to purchase tanks to protect their own country from new threats. "In general, the question is not whether we will get tanks again, but when we will get tanks again," said MP Peter Valstar. As of now, the Netherlands does not have its own tanks.

The country's Ministry of Defense leases a tank company of 18 Leopard 2A6s from Germany, but this number is not significant.

Tank troops of the Netherlands

At the end of the Cold War, the Armed Forces of the Netherlands had 441 Leopard 2A4 tanks. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the country started to actively sell off its large stockpiles of armored vehicles due to the disappearance of the threat. A few years later, the country's tank resource halved to two hundred Leopard 2A6NLs.

In 2011, the Netherlands suddenly decided to get rid of the remnants of the tank fleet and sold 73 Leopard 2A6NL tanks to Germany. However, in 2014, after the start of the Russian war with Ukraine, the country revised its policy and leased 18 Leopard 2A6 tanks from Germany. The leasing agreement provides that the tanks will belong to Germany and serve the Bundeswehr, but will be immediately transferred to the Netherlands if requested.

The leased tank company is part of the 414th Tank Battalion, a German-Dutch unit based in Loheide in Lower Saxony.

It is under the command of the Bundeswehr as part of the joint integration of the armies of both countries.