Article Posted on : - Oct 12, 2010

The tanks were handed over in a ceremony at Bergen, Germany.

BERGEN, GERMANY (BNS): The Munich-based armoured vehicle manufacturer, Krauss-Maffei Wegmann (KMW) has handed over the first 20 modernised LEOPARD 2 A4M CAN battle tanks to the Canadian armed forces.

The tanks were rolled out last week in the presence of the Canadian military representative, Vice Admiral Denis Rouleau, the deputy armed forces inspector, lieutenant-general Bruno Kasdorf and numerous other representatives of the Canadian and German army on training area at Bergen near Hannover (Germany).

"The complexity of the contemporary operational environment has done nothing to dimish the importance of armour supporting the combined arms team," Brigadier-General Steve Bowes, Commander of the Canadian Land Force Atlantic Area said.

The next deployment location for the Canadian LEOPARDS will be in Afghanistan.

Canada commissioned KMW to upgrade 20 LEOPARD main battle tanks in July 2009 for deployment in Hindu Kush, but provisions were also made for the deployment of tanks in southern Afghanistan.