• Military Menu                       

• Introduction
• Systems
• Facilities
• Agencies
• Industry
• Operations
• Countries
• Hot Documents
• News
• Reports
• Policy
• Budget
• Congress
• Links

• WMD
• Intelligence
• Homeland Security
• Space

Leopard 2E Battle tank - Spain

Spain has arms systems like the ICV Pizarro and the excellent Leopard 2E, both designed for the Cold War which are still being paid for. Producing an arms system like the Leopard 2E in Spain brings important industrial returns and it is one of the few technologies where one can still talk of western superiority and national production. The fact that it has not been used in overseas operations does not mean that it is not fulfilling an important dissuasive role or that it may be used in the future. It is a technology that is so difficult to develop that if abandoned it can be given up as lost. For all this, no country can simply ignore its defence and not maintain a solid industrial base that enables it to equip its Armed Forces with essential capabilities. In the case of the Leopard, it is the capability of carrying out integrated weapons operations with the rest of the Alliance.

After deciding to purchase the 109 Leopard 2A4 leased tanks, Santa Barbara Sistemas acquired ae licence to locally produce 219 Leopard 2A6 tanks for the Spanish army. A memorandum of understanding between the German and Spanish governments signed on 09 June 1995 laid the foundation for acquisition of up to 308 brand-new Leopard 2Es (E stands for Espana, Spanish for Spain). These were to be assembled in Spain by Santa Barbara Sistemas, with 60-70 percent of the components manufactured by Spanish companies, and production taking place between 1998 and 2003. Despite delays in production due to the 2003 merger between Santa Barbara Sistemas and General Dynamics, and continued fabrication issues between 2006 and 2007, a total of 219 Leopard 2Es were delivered to the Spanish army. The Leopard 2E is expected to remain in service until 2025.

Most of the military equipment that is currently made in Spain involves export licenses in the name of foreign companies. For example, the Leopard 2 tanks built by Santa Bárbara Sistemas cannot be built without the permission of Germany. Santa Bárbara Sistemas is a Spanish company that employs more than 700 highly skilled employees in four workplaces especially dedicated to the Defense industry. The knowledge and industrial infrastructure endow SBS with unique technological capabilities in Spain, being a European reference center for R & D and production in the areas of mobility, protection, firepower, systems integrator and ILS. Santa Bárbara Sistemas has more than 40 years leading land programs for the Armed Forces of Spain like the Leopard 2E battle tank.

Quatripole Ingenieria in a joint venture with RLS is actually carrying out the preventive and corrective maintenance of the Spanish LEOPARD 2E and 2ER vehicles. COHEMO, S.L. is an Spanish company specialized in maintenance, repair, upgrade and supply of assemblies and subassemblies for armored vehicles in service in various armed forces over the world (Leopard 2 A4/2E, Pizarro/ASCOD and BMR/VEC), as well as the supply of spare parts for vehicles in production or for those who, due to their long service life, is difficult to maintain their supply lines.

NATO’s Enhanced Forward Presence (eFP) mission grew out of the Warsaw Summit in 2016, was established in the spring of 2017 on the basis of four rotating battalion-size battle groups operating together with the forces of the host nations (Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland). The primary means provided by Spain are the Leopard 2E battle tanks and the Pizarro infantry fighting vehicles (IFV). These include the Leopard 2ER recovery tank, better known as the Buffalo, which is in great demand by other contingents when vehicles are immobilized due to low temperatures.

Spain sent a mechanised tactic subgroup made up of approximately 300 men and women and 80 vehicles, within which the Leopard 2E combat tanks made in Spain are noteworthy and which, for the first time, will be used in a mission outside of Spanish territory, along with Pizarro infantry combat vehicles. The Spanish contingent was integrated into a multi-nation Battle Group led by Canada and made up of forces from Albania, Italy, Poland and Slovenia. The main mission that will be carried out will be continuous training to bring together and prepare the multinational Battle Group. The rotations in air space began from May 2017 onwards and in sea transport from June. With 3,025 kilometers of air space, 3,600 kilometers of sea, this is the new mission that the Spanish Army will begin at the Adazi Base, Riga, Latvia.

The 'Raging Leopard' exercise has helped to integrate a section of Spanish tanks into a Tactical Subgroup of the eFP Battle Group Lithuania. This marks a milestone for the Spanish Army contingent deployed in Latvia because, due to COVID restrictions, the Spanish military had not been able to travel outside Latvia for this sort of cooperation with other eFP Battle Groups, which the allied countries put at NATO's disposal in the "enhanced Forward Presence" operation in the Baltic.

The Spanish Leopard platoon was integrated into a Norwegian tactical sub-group composed of three tank platoons and a mechanised platoon. This unit acted as an opposing force facing a German tactical sub-group, belonging to the eFP Battle Group Lithuania. The activities in Rukla, Lithuania, were split into two main phases. In the first phase, an offensive tactical action was planned, in which the Spanish section played a very active role. The exercise has helped to verify the outstanding level of the Spanish tank units, which have not only integrated smoothly with other allied units, with which they had not previously collaborated outside Latvia, but have also shown that the Spanish ground forces can undertake the missions entrusted to them with total guarantee, regardless of the scenario in which they are carried out.

The NATO Operation Enhanced Forward Presence (eFP) has conducted, from 10th to 12th October 2019, the exercise “Iron Spear”, with participation of all tanks belonging to the countries involved in the operation and deployed in Poland and the three Baltic countries. In particular, the following battle tanks have taken part in the exercise: Leopard A-6 from Germany, Leopard A-4 from Norway, Challenger from Great Britain, Aiete from Italy, PT-91 from Poland, Abrams from the United States and Leopard 2E from Spain.

The exercise has included two fire demonstrations, one at daytime and the other at night, and has counted with the participation of all the tank crewmen taking part in the exercise. On Saturday 12th, a competition was held implying the crewmen to beat in the shortest possible time a number of targets with the shape of tanks, infantry fighting vehicles and disembarked people. In past editions, German crews have always been awarded. Not this year, when the French crew “Leclerc” was the winner.

Exercise Steel Crescendo, which took place from 4 to 9 May, 2020 at Adazi Training Grounds in Latvia, where the Spanish contingent participating in the deployment of NATO’s north eastern flank is located. Steel Crescendo allowed the Battle Group to practise defensive fire using live ammunition. Training activities continued in the weeks that followed with exercise Steel Anvil, which focused on offensive operations with an opposing force element, and Mustang Dawn, a four-day rehearsal in which basic skills were practised at the platoon and squad level.