PARIS — The Netherlands plans to buy 46 Leopard 2A8 tanks for more than €1 billion (US$1.1 billion), rebuilding a heavy armor capacity just ten years after selling its last tanks to Finland, as it seeks to present a more credible military deterrent to an aggressive Russia.
The Dutch are also investing in missile defense, acquiring four short-range and six medium-range air-defense batteries from Norway’s Kongsberg, State Secretary for Defence Gijs Tuinman told parliament on Monday. The company expects the deal to be valued around 11 billion Norwegian kroner ($1 billion), it said in a separate statement.
Dutch defense officials and military brass have been showing up on TV shows and at public events in recent months to raise awareness of what they see as a threat of war posed by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and the need to bolster the country’s armed forces. The Netherlands last month announced plans to rebuild a tank battalion and buy additional F-35 fighter jets and anti-submarine frigates, backed by a rising defense budget.
“The war in Ukraine shows that battle tanks are of undiminished importance in modern conflict,” Tuinman told parliament in a letter detailing the planned purchase of Leopard tanks from French-German defense firm KNDS.
“With the reintroduction of a full-fledged tank battalion, the Netherlands is fulfilling the priority objectives assigned by NATO.”
The Netherlands will seek an option to buy six more tanks, on top of the 46 now penciled in. The Dutch are counting on unmanned systems to provide combat capacity equivalent to the six battle tanks, and will decide by 2027 whether that looks technologically feasible or whether they need to exercise the option to meet a goal of standing up a full tank battalion by 2030 at the latest.
Unmanned systems can make other systems less vulnerable by targeting enemy drones or armored vehicles, the state secretary said. The Ministry of Defence also expects systems for breaching obstacles and for sensing and reconnaissance to come to market.
Technology for unmanned capabilities equivalent to a modern battle tank is expected to emerge after 2035, in parallel with development of the French-German Main Ground Combat System, Tuinman said.
The Dutch aim to create their own unmanned capacity with the Leopard project to gain an edge over potential adversaries and build up a “significant” knowledge position in Europe, he said.
The Dutch MoD is working on the design of unmanned systems and expects to set out requirements by the end of next year, followed by validation with one or more manufacturers in the second half of 2026. Progress there will factor in the decision whether to order the six additional tanks, Tuinman told parliament.
The 46 planned Leopards are the minimum for a battalion with sufficient manned and unmanned operational capacity, Tuinman said. Staffing the tank battalion and its support capacities will require around 500 military personnel.
The Netherlands will tag along with a German-led joint procurement initiative that includes Lithuania and Czechia, which Tuinman said is the only way for the Dutch to have their own tank capacity in the short term. Allies are expected take delivery of the first new Leopard 2A8 battle tanks rolling off reactivated KNDS production lines end-2025, the state secretary said.
“The availability of slots on the recently reopened production lines is limited due to the greatly increased demand for heavy weapon systems,” Tuinman said. “This project therefore focuses on rapid materiel acquisition of the battle tanks by securing a favorable production slot.”
The Dutch government expects to conclude a deal with Germany by the end of the year, with first delivery three years later and the final tanks handed over in 2030. Any delay finalizing the contract could result in later delivery, as several countries are vying for a slot in the KNDS delivery schedule, according to Tuinman
The budget for the tank battalion is estimated at €1 billion to €2.5 billion, including spare parts, maintenance and operating costs. The MoD will further clarify support requirements, including trucks for transport, maintenance and supply, as well as recovery vehicles.
The Netherlands disbanded its tank battalions in 2011 amid budget cuts, selling its remaining 100 operational Leopard 2A6 tanks to Finland in 2014. The Dutch have been leasing 18 tanks from Germany since 2015, helping them retain knowledge around tank operations.
Meanwhile, the Netherlands also plans to order six medium-range and four short-range air-defense batteries from Kongsberg and additional multi-mission radar systems from Thales. Delivery of the systems is expected to start in 2028, with full operational capacity in 2030.
The budget for the air-defense project is €2.58 billion, including the cost of buying missiles, risk provision and operating costs, Tuinman said. That compares to Kongsberg’s estimate for a contract value of around 11 billion kroner.
The Dutch are ordering six fire units of the National Advanced Surface to Air Missile System (NASAMS), which can defend against attacks by aircraft and cruise missiles up to a range of 50 kilometers, according to Tuinman. One fire unit consists of multiple launchers, fire control and command units, as well as radar capacity, the state secretary said.
The Netherlands will also buy four short-range systems from Kongsberg based on the National Maneuver Air Defence System (NOMADS) mounted on the tracked Armoured Combat Support Vehicle G5, for defense against aerial threats including drones up to a range of 15 kilometers. The Dutch government is signing a separate contact with Norway for the ACSV tracked vehicles.
The ministry plans to order an additional eight Thales multi-mission radars, bringing the total ordered to 26, of which 14 for air and missile defense.
The Dutch military will create two batteries dedicated to air defense for land forces, each including a medium-range fire unit and two short-range fire units, radar capacity and logistical support, Two additional medium-range fire units will support Patriot long-range air-defense batteries, while another two will join a unit focused on protecting national infrastructure.
The government intends to buy missiles from the U.S. through a Foreign Military Sales agreement, Tuinman said. The plan is to buy AIM-120 AMRAAM-ER and AIM-120C8 AMRAAM missiles for the medium-range systems and AIM-9X Sidewinder missiles for the short-range systems, all interoperable with the country’s F-35 fighter jets.
Rudy Ruitenberg is a Europe correspondent for Defense News. He started his career at Bloomberg News and has experience reporting on technology, commodity markets and politics.
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