Insufficient tank building capacity – Leopard producer is probably moving to Greece

They know each other well and have known for years how battle tanks are produced: the plant manufacturer Metka, which belongs to the Greek technology group Mytilineos, and the German Leopard battle tank general contractor Krauss-Maffei Wegmann (KMW). Metka employees weld armored hulls together on behalf of KMW, i.e. the steel hearts that are supposed to protect the crew.

Against the background of the Ukraine war and a complex tank ring exchange campaign, a major project is now in the offing. It's about new, additional production capacity or the possibility of modernizing hundreds of older Leopard tanks in Greece. When asked by WELT, KMW basically confirmed talks with Metka, but did not give any details.

In a dry statement from the Munich group, it only says: "The talks are about Leopard 1A5 and Leopard 2." The "future of hull production" is being discussed. However, there are no plans to set up or even relocate new Leopard production capacities in Greece instead of in Germany.

KMW itself still has its own tank welding shops in Hamburg and Munich. But obviously they are not enough. The armored hulls for the large Leopard order from Hungary agreed at the end of 2018 come from Metka production halls in the Greek port city of Volos, confirms KMW on request.

According to industry sources, the Leopard armored hulls for the large order from Qatar were also produced by welders in Greece. That was agreed before the Ukraine war.

In the meantime, however, the industry is discussing how quickly new capacities can be built up. There are little-known connections in tank construction behind the scenes.

The speculation about further capacities in Greece could soon gain some clarity, because a symbolic date is approaching. The Greek media reported on a visit by Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz to Athens on October 27. Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis invited. The first German armored personnel carrier of the Marder type from the stocks of the Rheinmetall armaments group could then be presented at the traditional military parade in Thessaloniki on the Greek national holiday on October 28, it is said.

In a ring exchange between Athens, Berlin and Kyiv, initially 40 Marders are said to be delivered to Greece and the Greeks then also hand over 40 BMP-1s of older Soviet design to Kyiv. "[Greece] will supply Ukraine, and we will supply them with German armored personnel carriers," Scholz said at a press conference after an EU summit at the end of May.

In addition to this ring exchange, there are now probably considerations for an expansion of the Leopard hull production and/or modernization capacities in Greece at another location of the Metka company, not only in Volos. Rheinmetall's business visions for Greece could possibly even be included.

The Düsseldorf-based group hopes that Greece will order its new Lynx infantry fighting vehicle next year – just like its NATO partner Hungary. For this customer, some of the infantry fighting vehicles will in future be produced in a joint venture in Hungary so that the added value remains in the country.

Discussions about changing or expanding the future of the Leopard in Greece highlight the tank building capacities that have shrunk in Germany since the end of the Cold War. The Leopard was once also produced in Switzerland, Sweden, Spain and Greece.

Due to Russia's war of aggression in Ukraine, capacities are now being ramped up again, even if the company bosses are still waiting for firm commitments for their plans from the 100 billion German army special budget. Time is pressing, because now the future markets are being distributed in the billions.

Athens is one of the world's largest Leopard users with a massive fleet. Between 1998 and 2005 alone, Greece received a total of 525 older Leopard 1 A5s sorted out by the German armed forces and was the launch customer for some of the more modern variants. So now hundreds of Leopard tanks could be modernized.

In 2003, Athens also ordered 170 Leopard 2A6s. There are various long-term business relationships between KMW and Athens. The Leopard general contractor KMW and the cannon supplier Rheinmetall are very interested in which capacities are built and which technology is installed.

The fact that German tank technology continues to hold a top position worldwide has just been documented at the leading US Army exhibition AUSA 2022 in Washington. There, the leading US battle tank manufacturer General Dynamics presented its idea of ​​the battle tank of the future with the AbramsX prototype.

No more soldiers in the turret because the shells are automatically loaded and a hybrid engine with electric propulsion for a stealth mode and 50 percent less fuel consumption. Overall, the tank should be lighter. The model was shown in Washington with German tank tracks from KMW-Diehl.

So far, KMW has never supplied tracks to US Abrams tanks. Modernized Leopards in Greece would presumably also receive new tracks.

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