On Wednesday, 21 December 2022, Defence Minister Jana Černochová took over from the State Secretary in the Ministry of Defence of the Federal Republic of Germany Benedikt Zimmer a symbolic key from the first Leopard 2A4 tank that the Czech Republic received from Germany as part of assistance to Ukraine. The handover-takeover ceremony took place in Přáslavice barracks, where units of the 7th Mechanised Brigade are based, and also saw the Minister announce the signing of the memorandum on the procurement of the Swedish CV 90 combat vehicles.
“When I was visiting soldiers in Hranice or Žatec shortly after I assumed office, I reassured them that this Cabinet held armed forces modernisation as a high priority. But I do not know whether they trusted me or not, as they had been hearing this from Defence Ministers for years. This is the first swallow with others to follow,” Minister Černochová said and noted that with the Leopard MBTs the Czech Armed Forces will be able to drive out of the blind alley of dependence on ex-Soviet equipment.
Better compatibility in NATO
“We have obtained the tanks as part of assistance to Ukraine. Supporting Ukraine is absolutely correct and essential and I am very proud of that,” Chief of General Staff of the Czech Armed Forces Major General Karel Řehka underscored in his address and went on to say that the Leopard tanks are also in the inventory of our neighbours, including Poland and Hungary so that their fielding will be instrumental to a higher compatibility in NATO.
“Joint effort, cohesion and decisive action are making us stronger and more resilient. That was the reason for our offer of backfilling. Roughly six months have passed and today we are standing here in Přáslavice about to hand over the first Leopard tank to the Czech Land Forces. In order for this to become reality, we needed both a strong political will and indeed a constructive cooperation between the two parties on all levels, and, above all, mutual trust,” State Secretary Zimmer underlined.
The German tank arrived at the Přáslavice barracks the day before early in the morning, but remained hidden from the guests’ eyes. Only when the Minister received a report from the commander of the tank battalion and saluted the lined-up soldiers, the Leopard set off into the centre of the drillground, still operated by a German crew. The parade ride before the guests after the takeover of the symbolic key was nevertheless already performed by a newly trained Czech tank crew. Perhaps the most important part of the ceremony was a static display of the interior and internal equipment of the newly received Leopard MBT. Servicemembers of the tank battalion and representatives of the contractor were at the disposal of the audience who included Senators and Deputies from the Parliament of the Czech Republic.
Besides the State Secretary in the FMoD, the handover/takeover ceremony in Přáslavice was also attended by the representatives of the German Armed Forces and the Austrian Armed Forces. Both countries have been actively involved in the type training for the Czech soldiers.
Additional 13 Leopards in 2023
The German “ringtausch” assistance was agreed between Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Prime Minister Petr Fiala at the beginning of May 2022. Besides the tanks – fourteen MBTs and one Armoured Recovery Vehicle – the delivery will comprise an initial pack of spares, ammunition and three-year servicing support by the contractor, which includes the training of Czech service personnel. One of the signatories of the series of agreements between the Czech Republic and Germany was the former Czech Land Forces Commander Major General Ladislav Jung. For his merit in cultivating good bilateral relations, he was decorated by Germany with the Gold Cross of Honour of the Bundeswehr.
The remaining thirteen main battle tanks are scheduled for delivery to Přáslavice until the end of this year. The Armoured Recovery Vehicle, which uses the Leopard 2 platform, will be shipped by mid-2024. These fully operational machines were formerly used by the Swiss and German Armed Forces.
- For more pictures see: https://army.cz/-241356