More Leopard 2 tanks in Latvia: after Spain and Canada, now arriving from Poland

NATO's Multinational Brigade in Latvia is a mechanized force whose battering ram consists of several dozen tanks.

The Spanish participation in a parade in Latvia with soldiers and armoured vehicles
The tests of the anti-tank obstacles that Latvia has placed on its border with Russia

This NATO Multinational Brigade is part of the deployment that the Atlantic Alliance is carrying out on its eastern flank, a deployment initiated following the Russian annexation of Crimea in 2014 and reinforced after the large-scale Russian invasion against the rest of Ukraine in February 2022. The Brigade contributes to guaranteeing the security of Latvia, a country whose small army thus has a protective shield after suffering Russian threats.

Significantly, the tank most widely used by the Brigade is a German model, the Leopard 2. The first to arrive were the Spanish Leopard 2Es (a Spanish version equivalent to the Leopard 2A6), with half a dozen tanks plus other armoured vehicles such as the ASCOD Pizarro infantry vehicles, M-109E self-propelled howitzers and M-113 VCZ sapper vehicles.

Canada, which commands this Brigade and whose mainland in Latvia initially had the LAV III infantry fighting vehicle as its main vehicle, was the second country to contribute Leopard 2 tanks, specifically the Leopard 2A4M CAN, an updated Canadian version of the Leopard 2A4. The Canadian Army has 15 of these tanks in Latvia.

The other two countries contributing tanks to this Brigade are Italy, with 8 units of the Italian C1 Ariete model, and Poland, which until now had a tank company equipped with PT-91 Twardy (above these lines), a modernized Polish version of the Soviet T-72. The Polish company is made up of tanks from the 16th and 18th Mechanized Divisions of the Ground Forces.

This week, the Polish contingent in Latvia has had its tanks replaced. The veteran PT-91 Twardys are returning home and being replaced by another version of the Leopard 2: the Leopard 2PL, a Polish-modernised version of the Leopard 2A4.

In addition to the Leopard 2PLs, the Polish Land Forces have also deployed a Bergepanzer 2, a recovery vehicle based on the Leopard 2 chassis, to Latvia. Poland has 28 units of this type of vehicle.

The Leopard 2PL was born out of a modernisation plan for 142 Leopard 2A4s of the Polish Army in 2020, tanks manufactured in Germany by Rheinmetall and upgraded in Poland by the Polish defence company PGZ. The first Leopard 2PLs were delivered to the 10th Armoured Cavalry Brigade, based in Świętoszów.

This modernized Polish version includes third-generation night vision systems, new additional armor modules on the turret and chassis, and the ability to use new types of ammunition, among other improvements.

According to Polish website Defence24.pl, the Leopard 2PLs deployed in Latvia belong to the 11th Lubusz Armored Cavalry Division, a unit named after King John III Sobieski, the Polish monarch who led the famous charge of the Winged Hussars at the Battle of Kahlenberg in 1683, scoring a victory that prevented the Ottoman Empire from taking over Central Europe.

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Photos: NATO Multinational Brigade Latvia / Dowództwo Operacyjne / Latvijas Armija.