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Ruag reaches deal with German firm on 25 disputed Leopard tanks

Ruag MRO and German company agree on 25 Leopard wagons dispute
Ruag MRO and German company agree on 25 Leopard wagons dispute Keystone-SDA

The Swiss defence contractor Ruag MRO has settled a long-standing dispute with the German firm Global Logistics Support (GLS) regarding 25 Leopard 1 tanks.

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In an out-of-court settlement reported by Swiss public broadcaster, SRF, and since confirmed, GLS gave up ownership of the armoured vehicles, which Ruag MRO is now selling to German armaments giant Rheinmetall. It is not known to what extent GLS has been compensated.

Ruag MRO bought a total of 96 Leopard 1 tanks from the Italian Ministry of Defence in 2016: 25 of them were then sold in 2020 to GLS. However, the German firm had not taken over the vehicles and Ruag had refunded the purchase price.

The ownership rights remained disputed, however, and the issue landed in court. The other 71 tanks were sold to Rheinmetall: the Swiss government approved this deal at the end of May, with the caveat that the tanks could not be transferred on to Ukraine.

Translated from Italian by DeepL/dos

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