Article Posted on : - May 31, 2011

Leopard 2A6 main battle tank.

AMSTERDAM (BNS): The Netherland MoD has bidded farewell to the long services of the Leopard 2A6 main battle tank fleet, which has ended the 90 years of Dutch tanks history.

The Dutch tank history ended on the German firing range (Range 6 at the Bergen-Hohne firing range) from where the Dutch Leopard had fired its first shots.

The Senior Officer of the Cavalry, Major General (ret'd) Harm de Jonge, praised the deployment of the tank during the peace operation in the former Yugoslavia and the deployment of the personnel during the recent missions in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The Leopard 2A6 main battle tank is still considered to be a highly modern weapon system with unequalled armour and fire power.

According to the MoD, the nation army had its first tank shortly after the First World War. At the height of the Cold War, the Netherlands had almost 1,000 battle tanks at its disposal. They formed the backbone of the Netherlands armed forces.