On Thursday, Polska Grupa Zbrojeniowa announced that it finished the construction process of the first two upgraded Leopard 2PL main battle tanks to the Polish Army.
“Works aimed at collecting the next three tanks are to be completed this week,” the news release says. “The formally completing production of vehicles is an important stage in the program, enabling the start of delivery of subsequent batches of modernized Leopards 2PL.”
Over the past two weeks, very intensive work has been carried out to complete the tests of the Leopard 2PL tanks and start passing vehicles to the Army.
This week, the first batch of Leopards 2PL has been picked up by the User at Zakłady Mechaniczne “Bumar-Łabędy” S.A. in Gliwice. The tanks will be delivered to the 10th Armored Cavalry Brigade stationed in Świętoszów.
The Leopard 2PL program aims to significantly improve the combat capability of the Leopard 2A4 tanks used in the Polish Armed Forces, including in terms of firepower, ballistic protection and situational awareness, as well as crew work comfort with a wide involvement of the national defense industry.
According to Defence24.com, the core of the modernization program is a compromise of three following factors: cost; vehicle weight; improved capabilities, within the area determined by the aforementioned factors.
In cooperation with Poland’s Polska Grupa Zbrojeniowa (PGZ) and ZM Bumar-Łabędy S.A., Rheinmetall serves as a strategic partner, supplying crucial key capabilities, including electronics and weapon technology.
The contractor undertook to produce the full technical capability and to modernize the all tanks by July 31, 2023. During the course of modernization, the 142 Leopard 2 A4 main battle tanks purchased in 2002 by the Polish Army from surplus Bundeswehr stocks will be upgraded to Leopard 2 PL standard, which corresponds to the German Leopard 2 A5 and A6.