After the end of the Cold War, the German army started selling off surplus armored vehicles, and many other allies, such as Poland, took advantage of discounts to equip their armored fleets with the German panzers. A number of countries - including Austria, Denmark, Finland, Greece, the Netherlands, Turkey, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland - have equipped their armies with the model. Leopard 2s were widely exported over the years. About 20 of these are the heavily redesigned and modernized A7 model, but many are earlier A4 models - the same as used by the Turkish army. But after the Cold War, defense cuts caused a sharp reduction in numbers, and only 325 of a modernized version currently remain in the inventory of the country’s panzer units. A total of 2,100 were bought by the German army. The 60-ton Leopard 2, built by Bavaria’s Krauss-Maffei, has been in service since the 1980s. Turkey’s leaders have criticized the Obama administration last month for not providing strike support to their units engaged in the al-Bab operation. The rebels are said to have used both U.S.-made TOW and Russian Kornet anti-tank missiles in attacks on the tanks. ![]() Germany’s Die Welt newspaper said at least 10 Leopard 2s were destroyed and many others damaged in street fighting on the outskirts of al-Bab. ![]() Several dozen Turkish soldiers and local allies have died in the combat.
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