The Leopard 2 is a modern German 3rd generation battle tank. The first prototypes of the vehicle were built in 1973 and serial production began in 1979, continuing to this day. By 2018, 3,480 tanks of this type had been produced.

The Leopard 2 is powered by the 1500 HP MTU MB 873 Ka 501 engine. The vehicle is armed with:

• Rheinmetall Rh-M-120 cannon of 120 mm
• Two MG3 machine guns of 7.62 mm

The Leopard 2 was developed in response to the request for a new Main Battle Tank announced by the Bundeswehr in the early 1960s. The new vehicle was intended to replace the Leopard 1 tanks in the West German Army. Initially, cooperation with American companies (e.g., Chrysler) was undertaken in a project known as MBT-70. However, after a few years, the cooperation ended and further work focused exclusively on German companies.