Leopard 2

From 2004 to 2020, the Danish Army’s standard Main Battle Tank was the Leopard 2A5. This type is not yet part of the museum’s permanent collection, instead the museum has a Leopard 2A4, painted as they were used in the German Army. All Danish Leopard 2A5 were purchased as used Leopard 2A4 from the German Army, and they were then later upgraded to Leopard 2A5 standard.

The Leopard 2A4 was used in the Danish Army for a period of about 1½ years from mid-1999 to late 2000, when 18 Leopard 2A4s served with the Jydske Dragonregiment in Oksbøl as the so-called “Experience Squadron”. The purpose of the squadron was to generate experience with the Leopard 2, for use in the further process of upgrading the used Leopard 2A4 to what became the Danish version of the Leopard 2A5.

The Leopard 2 family was developed by the German company Krauss-Maffei Wegmann (KMW) in the 1970s. The Leopard 2 entered service with the German Army in 1979. Since then, the tank has undergone continuous product development.

Since 2020, the Danish Leopard 2A5s have been in process of being upgraded to the Leopard 2A7 standard. When the process is completed, the Danish Army will have 44 Leopard 2A7s in service in three squadrons of the Jutland Dragoon Regiment in Holstebro.

The Leopard 2A4 in the museum’s collection is empty, i.e. it has neither engine nor other “internals”, as it was purchased to be dismantled for spare parts for the Leopard 2A5 fleet. It is displayed as individual no. 68.632, this is a pseudo number on the display vehicle to look like a vehicle that was running, the correct individual no. is 73.841, which has never run in Danish service.

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