Hungary takes delivery of more Leopard tanks

Photo: Defence ministry, Hungary

Hungary has taken delivery of two new Leopard 2A7HU tanks that will be added to the fleet put in service at the army base in Tata, in northern Hungary, the defence ministry said on Monday.

The ministry cited Kristof Szalay-Bobrovniczky in a statement as saying that with the new tanks added, the army now has 13 of the armoured vehicles developed for Hungary.

With the arrival of the so-called Leopard 2A7 Driver Training Tank, the production training of tank officers and non-commissioned officers who have been successfully trained in Germany in recent years can now continue in Tata. This professional training course, which will last several months, will ensure that the personnel have the professional skills to use the new equipment, the Defence Minister said.

Photo: Defence ministry, Hungary

The number of tanks developed according to Hungarian requirements at the 11th Tank Battalion of the Vitéz Tarczay Ervin has thus increased to thirteen.

Hungary has procured altogether 44 “top-notch-technology” Leopard tanks to be delivered by 2028, the minister said.

The armoured body of the vehicle is 7.7 metres long, and with the gun forward, the length of the tank is 10.97 metres. The width without additional armour is 3.76 metres and the height is 3.03 metres. Its firepower is provided by an L55A1 type Rheinmetall tank gun with a length of L55 gauge and a 120 millimetre gauge, allowing accurate firing from a range of up to 5,000 metres.

The tank is also equipped with a 7.62 millimetre parallel-mounted machine gun, a 12.7 millimetre remotely operated machine gun and 16 76 millimetre smoke grenade launchers capable of firing fragmentation grenades.