Production history Leopard 2A6M of the German Army Leopard 2A6M of the German Army German Leopard 2A6M (with turret reversed) German Leopard 2A6M (with turret reversed) In September 1977 the German Ministry of Defence decided to go ahead with plans for production of 1,800 Leopard 2s, to be delivered in five batches. Krauss-Maffei was again chosen as the main contractor, but this time Maschinenbau Kiel (MaK), of Kiel, Germany would be a major (45%) subcontractor. Deliveries started in 1979, and by 1982 the first batch of 380 Leopard 2; 209 by Krauss-Maffei (Chassis Nr. 10001 to 10210) and 171 by Mak (Chassis Nr. 20001 to 20172) was completed. The earliest of these were mounted with an image intensifier, the last 80 with a new thermal night-sight system, and this was later retrofitted to the earlier models. The first export customer were The Netherlands which received 445 between July 1981 and July 1986.[2] The Netherlands later resold 114 of these (and one turret) to Austria, 80 to Canada in 2007,[2], another 52 tanks to Norway and finally 37 to Portugal. Sweden also acquired 280 Leopards, 160 2A4s from German stocks, designated Stridsvagn 121, and the rest 2(S) models (Strv122) similar to the 2A5. Spain first leased and later bought 108 2A4 models in the interim period before 219 licence-built 2A6 models (Leopardo 2E) were ready to replace them. Switzerland bought 380 between 1987 and 1993. A number of countries also use versions of them including Poland, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Turkey and Chile. Germany has fielded about 2125 of them in various versions. The design was also tested by Britain in the 1980s, which ultimately decided on the Challenger 2. The Australian Army evaluated ex-German Leopard 2s as a replacement for its Leopard 1 tanks in 2003 but instead selected the M1A1 Abrams. The recent bidding wins for the Leopard 2 (such as Greece selecting the Leopard 2 over the M1 Abrams and the Leclerc) are strong evidence that the Leopard 2 is one of the best selling tanks in the world. Until now, the only combat engagements of the Leopard 2 has been during operations by the KFOR in Kosovo and by Canadian and Danish forces in the War in Afghanistan. [edit] Combat history [edit] ISAF/OEF Canada currently uses 20 Leopard 2A6M CAN for combat missions Afghanistan, borrowed from German Army. In an assault on November 2, 2007, a Leo 2A6M hit an IED, with the whole crew surviving: "My crew stumbled upon an (improvised explosive device) and made history as the first (crew) to test the (Leopard 2A6)M-packet. It worked as it should." wrote an Canadian officer in an email to German defence officials and stated, that the vehicle saved his life and that of his crew.[3][4] Canadian Chief of the Defence Staff General Rick Hiller denied reports that a Leopard II tank that was struck by an IED last month was a writeoff, insisting that the tank has been repaired and is once again in use. "Th