Procurement: March 6, 2002

Archives

On 1 March, Greece picked the Leopard 2A5 over the American M1A2 Abrams, French Leclerc and British Challenger 2E , but reduced the order to 170 tanks to save money. Initially, Greece wanted 246 new tanks, 24 recovery vehicles, 12 bridge-laying vehicles and 12 driver-trainer vehicles. The competition also called for 25 percent co-production in Greece to boost the local defence industry. Each Leopard 2A5 costs approximately 7.5 million euros ($6,486,000). The cost of a new M1A2 tank is approximately $4.3 million. - Adam Geibel