Lithuania Defense Services sends repaired Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine

Lithuania Defense Services, a company controlled by German defence firms KNDS Deutschland and Rheinmetall Landsysteme, is sending battle-damaged and repaired Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine, LRT reported.

“It is very important to us that the tanks return to the battlefield as quickly as possible,” Ukrainian Ambassador to Lithuania Olha Nikitčenko said during a visit to Jonava. She said the armoured vehicles remained particularly important for retaking occupied territories, working alongside drones.

LDS sales and marketing director Vilius Semeška told BNS that the number of tanks being sent to Ukraine was classified information and would not be disclosed.

The company has been repairing damaged Leopard 2 tanks brought from Ukraine at its military equipment service and repair workshops in Jonava since October 2023.

LDS will also service new Leopard 2 A8 tanks for the Lithuanian Army and the German Bundeswehr. The tanks will also be assembled in Lithuania. The company has already started building a new tank assembly plant and an armoured military equipment service centre in the Kaunas Free Economic Zone.

LDS chief executive Sebastian Dietz said the company expected to offer a broader range of services to the Lithuanian Army, NATO forces in Lithuania and, if needed, Ukraine. He said LDS had signed agreements with Israeli company Rafael and engine manufacturer Rolls-Royce.

LDS plans to invest about 50 million euros in the Kaunas Free Economic Zone plant by the beginning of 2028 and create around 100 new jobs, BNS reported. The Ministry of the Economy and Innovation has granted the project the status of a major investment project.

Lithuania established LDS in 2022. A memorandum signed at the end of 2025 provided for the sale of a 25.1 percent stake in the company to Epso-G Invest, a subsidiary of the state-owned energy group Epso-G. Semeška said negotiations on the sale were still under way and were expected to be completed by the end of this year.