Croatia Orders 44 Leopard 2A8 Tanks: Can They Challenge Modern Russian Armour?

The Croatian Defence Ministry has finalised the the procurement of 44 Leopard 2A8 main battle tanks from Germany, with a ceremony marking the occasion attended by Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz. The acquisition will allow the Croatian Army to phase its Soviet-designed T-54/55 tanks out of service, which date back to the 1940s, and field a NATO-standard vehicle interoperable with its allies’ forces. The Leopard 2A8 is the latest variant of a design that first entered service in 1979, with the first of the new vehicles unveiled in November after having been built to meet orders from the Norwegian Army. Although the Leopard 2 has often been criticised as being less capable than the other two NATO-standard tanks currently in production, the American M1A2 Abrams and South Korean K2, effective lobbying from Germany and the benefits of commonality with neighbouring European states have led countries across the continent to procure the vehicles. 

Compared to the Leopard 2A6 variant, which has been combat tested extensively by the Ukrainian Army, the Leopard 2A8 boasts greater protection due to the integration of the Israeli Trophy active protection system. It also integrates a new 20 kW auxiliary power unit, and a new combat management and information system, among other conservative upgrades. The Leopard 2’s viability for modern warfare has been widely questioned, as has those of other very large Western main battle tanks with similar design philosophies such as the British Challenger 2, as their emphasis on heavy armour protection is considered far from optimal in an era of drone warfare. The Leopard 2A6 has taken very high losses in combat in the Ukrainian theatre against Russian forces, while several of the tanks have been captured and analysed in detail at Russian facilities.

In July 2025 it was reported that the German Defence Ministry was considering plans to procure several hundred Leopard 2A8 tanks, following the depletion of the Army’s fleet of Leopard 2A6 tanks due to donations to the Ukrainian Army. The German Army on May 22 inaugurated the 45th Armoured Brigade stationed in Vilnius, Lithuania, just 150 kilometres from the Belarusian capital Minsk, and less than 800 kilometres from Moscow, which is intended to deploy 108 Leopard 2A8 tanks. These were ordered in July 2024 under a 2.93 billion Euro ($3.14 billion) contract. A major increase in German orders, combined with sizeable orders from clients across Europe including Croatia, could allow for a significant expansion of production which may in turn drive down costs. The Leopard 2’s capabilities are nevertheless expected to fall further behind the cutting edge, with China having set a new standard with the unveiling of the revolutionary Type 100 tank in September 2025, while the United States is working to radically redesign the Abrams tank in a similar direction under the M1E3 program.