The German army has 320 Leopard 2 main battle tanks in its possession, but has not disclosed how many would be battle-ready, a Defense Ministry spokesperson told CNN.
These Leopard 2, all of them from the A5, A6 and A7 series, are in various conditions, in a state of repair and ready to be deployed, the spokesperson explained.
The German army is no longer in possession of the Leopard 1, which is an older series in the line of main battle tanks, he said. Similarly, it also doesn’t stock older Leopard 2 models such as the A4.
Meanwhile, weapons maker Rheinmetall said last week that it had 139 Leopards in stock, but only 29 of those Leopard 2s would be ready for combat in the spring of this year. Those 29 have already theoretically been ceded to third countries as part of a tank swap.
According to the company, the rest of the stocks need to be prepared over a longer period of time.
A Rheinmetall spokesperson told CNN on Tuesday that of the rest of the stock—88 Leopard 1 cars—a few could be delivered in about nine months, and the rest in a year.
Another German gunmaker, FFG, has 99 Leopards in stock, but only from the older Leopard 1 range, a company spokesperson tells CNN.
Even if a tank is ready and repaired, it needs ammunition and spare parts to be able to deploy.
a bit of context: Poland formally asked Germany for permission to transfer Leopard 2 main battle tanks to Ukraine. So far, Germany has resisted calls by Poland, the United States and other NATO countries to transfer the cars to Ukraine or allow other countries to send some of its Leopards to Kyiv.
However, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius earlier said the country would make a decision on tanks “very soon.”