An 800km Drive From Moscow: How Powerful is the German Army’s New 45th Armoured Brigade in Lithuania?

<p >On May 22 the German Army <a href="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/germany-leopardii-former-ussr-deployment" target="_blank">inaugurated</a> the new 45th Armoured Brigade stationed in Vilnius, Lithuania, which is expected to provide an elite forward deployed mechanised warfare capability on the territory of the former Soviet Union. Located just 150 kilometres from the Belarusian capital Minsk, and less than 800 kilometres from Moscow, capabilities of the new brigade have significant implications for the balance of power on the ground in Eastern Europe, and could be seen to pose a significant threat to Belarusian and Russian security. By the end of 2026 the new brigade is expected to reach a strength of 4800 personnel, the backbone of which is formed by the 203rd Panzer Battalion’s 105 Leopard 2A8 main battle tanks, the 122nd Panzergrenadier Battalion’s Puma Infantry Fighting Vehicles, and an unknown number of PzH 2000 155mm self-propelled artillery systems under the 455th Panzer Artillery Battalion. These will be supported by Fennek reconnaissance vehicles, and with infantry mounted in Boxer armoured personnel carriers, as well as by mobile air defence systems. </p><p ><img src="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/m/articles/2025/05/31/article_683a54e2ca8f92_79968924.png" title="Leopard 2A8 Prototype "></p><p >The 108 Leopard 2A8 tanks for the 45th Armoured Brigade were ordered in July 2024, with Leopard 2A6 tanks expected to be used as a stopgap in the interim. The tanks were purchased under a 2.93 billion euro ($3.14 billion) contract, and will be delivered between 2027 and 2030. The Leopard 2’s performance history has nevertheless raised serious questions regarding its capabilities, including both the Leopard 2A4, and the much newer Leopard 2A6 variant on which the new Leopard 2A8 is closely based. In 2016 Turkish Army Leopard 2s in Al Bab in Syria’s Aleppo governate faced significant losses in combat to lightly armed Islamic State forces, with British media reporting that the tank <a href="https://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=%E2%80%9Cnumerous+faults+exposed+in+lethal+fashion.%E2%80%9D+leopard&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8">showed</a> “numerous faults exposed in lethal fashion.” Stars and Stripes assessed that the <a href="https://www.stripes.com/news/germany-s-leopard-tanks-prove-vulnerable-in-islamic-state-fight-1.449278">German tank’s reputation</a> “has taken a pounding in battles with Islamic State militants,” with the National Interest <a href="https://nationalinterest.org/blog/buzz/turkeys-leopard-2-tanks-are-getting-crushed-syria-95396">describing</a> a performance in combat that “shockingly illustrated” that they were “not so good armour after all.” They were “proven embarrassingly vulnerable in combat” despite not facing well armed adversaries. Turkish military leaders described their Leopard II units’ early engagements with IS as “trauma.” The Turkish Army had similar experiences operating the vehicles against Kurdish militias.</p><p ><img src="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/m/articles/2025/05/31/article_683a54c495bda4_19236478.png" title="Russian Army Recovery of Leopard 2A6 Tank Near Avdiivka"></p><p >Despite the Leopard 2A4’s poor performance when deployed by the Turkish Army, there were considerable hopes in the Western world that the Leopard 2A6 and its derivatives would prove to be more survivable. Completing development in 2006, the Leopard 2A6 represented a landmark in the modernisation of the tank class, and saw its frontal armour protection improved significantly against both kinetic and explosive attacks with a distinctive arrowhead frontal arc, spall liners inside its turret, and new composite amour on its side skirts. It also integrated the new L 55 longer barrelled 120mm gun and improved fire controls. Compared to the Leopard 2A4, it also boasted external add-on modules to the turret and replacing the turret's internal armour modules. Despite its improvements, the tank began to take heavy losses in Ukraine almost immediately after being deployed in June 2023.</p><p ><img src="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/m/articles/2025/05/31/article_683a54965f9a89_73658090.jpg" title="German Supplied Leopard 2A6 Tank Destroyed in Kursk in September 2024"></p><p > </p><p >By January 2024 the majority of Leopard 2s operated by the Ukrainian Army had been <a href="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/russia-majority-ukraine-leo2">rendered inoperable</a> in combat with Russian forces, with over one quarter totally destroyed and the remainder damaged beyond the Army’s ability to repair them. This led the journal of the United States’ most influential foreign policy think tank the Council on Foreign Relations to <a href="https://www.foreignaffairs.com/ukraine/how-russia-stopped-ukraines-momentum">highlight</a> that the tanks had proven to be “hardly invulnerable superweapons,” reflecting broader perceptions that the vehicles had underperformed considerably. Multiple Leopard 2A6 tanks were captured by Russian forces and <a href="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/footage-captured-leo2a6-study">studied in the country</a>. Although the Leopard 2A8 tanks the 45th Armoured Brigade will eventually field will benefit from a number of improvements over the baseline Leopard 2A6, namely greater situational awareness and integration of the Trophy active protection system, the enhancements are not expected to be revolutionary, particularly in light of the Trophy system’s own recently demonstrated limitations.</p><p ><img src="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/m/articles/2025/05/31/article_683a555359c459_85525889.png" title="PzH 2000 Self-Propelled Gun"></p><p >Where the Leopard 2A6 was seen to have disappointed expectations, the PzH 2000’s record when employed in an active war zone was significantly <a href="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/german-weapons-poor-failing-ukraine-turkey" >poorer</a>. A month after their arrival in Ukraine in late June 2022, German media outlet Der Spiegel reported on July 29 that the self-propelled guns, widely touted by Western sources as the most capable in the world, were already showing significant signs of “wear and tear.” This resulted in guns breaking down, forcing Ukraine to rely more on its artillery acquired from other sources. Despite being designed to be compatible with 155mm rounds from across NATO, the guns have suffered from poor compatibility with ammunition from other NATO members – an issue also affecting German Gepard anti-aircraft vehicles. Assessments of the capabilities of both the Leopard 2 and the PzH 2000 in Ukraine indicate that the 45th Armoured Brigade will be limited in the extent of the threat it can pose to Russia and Belarus in Europe despite its close proximity to their capitals. The issue of qualitative deficiencies of German hardware, which are expected to be particularly distinct when compared to the <a href="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/polish-army-receives-new-batch-abrams" target="_blank">American</a> and <a href="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/poland-moves-ahead-purchase-180-skorean-k2-tanks" target="_blank">South Korean equipment</a> increasingly deployed in neighbouring Poland, may be further exacerbated by the particularly poor<a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-43134896" > training standards</a> and <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/germanys-lack-of-military-readiness-dramatic-says-bundeswehr-commissioner/a-42663215" >combat readiness levels </a>that have long afflicted the Germany Army. These issues are not expected to be straightforward to remedy.</p>