The Italian Ministry of Defense issued a request for the purchase of 132 Leopard 2A8IT
16 February, 2024 Leopard 2A8 main battle tank produced by the German company Krauss-Maffei Wegmann. Photo from open sources Italy plans to purchase 132 Leopard 2A8IT main battle tanks for its own troops.
It is reported by Militarnyi with reference to Defense Industry Europe. The Italian Ministry of Defense submitted documents on the procurement program of the Leopard 2A8IT main battle tank for approval by both houses of parliament. In total, it is planned to purchase 272 new tanks, of which only 132 will be in the Leopard 2A8IT main battle tank version, and the rest - support vehicles: technical support vehicles, engineering tanks, assault bridges, etc.
The implementation of the program with an expected total cost of EUR 8.2 billion is estimated at about 14 years.
Leopard 2A8 main battle tank produced by the German company Krauss-Maffei Wegmann. Photo from open sources.
At the same time, the Italian defense industry will take part in the production of the Leopard 28IT tank. Tanks and vehicles on this chassis will be produced at the factory of the Italian company Leonardo in the city of La Spezia, where the assembly line is already installed.
For Italy, tanks will be significantly different from those ordered by the Bundeswehr due to the widespread use of Italian-made components, such as the fire control system and battlefield management system produced by Leonardo. Leopard 2A8IT will receive an active protection system that will use Italian-made elements. Most likely, it will be a localized version of the Israeli Rafael Trophy active defense system that is now being actively implemented on modern Western main battle tanks.
Leopard 2A8 at IDET 2023, Brno, Czech Republic, May 26, 2023
Italy's plans to acquire Leopard tanks 2A8 German production and upgrade its obsolete Ariete tanks became known in July 2023.
The Leopard 2A8 procurement program will also pave the way for Italy's participation in the Franco-German Main Ground Combat System (MGCS) combat vehicle program of the future. These vehicles should replace and significantly exceed the combat performance of the German Leopard 2 and the French Leclerc.
Leopard 2A8 tank of the Krauss-Maffei Wegmann company. May, 2023. Photo credits: @Danny_elMayor
Leopard 2?8
Currently, the Leopard 2A8 is the most modern version of the tank that was presented only last year.
It is based on the Leopard 2A7 model, but has received a number of improvements, such as the integration of a Trophy active protection system and a comprehensive awareness system.
In addition, the tank must also get an improved reservation taking into account new threats, as well as an improved fire control system.