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Leopard tank maker Rheinmetall expects busy year
STORY: It’s the company that makes the Leopard 2 tanks so badly wanted by Ukraine. Now Germany’s Rheinmetall is expecting a busy year or two. It expects sales to go as high as $13 billion by 2025. That’s about a billion higher than an earlier target range. The numbers came in an interview with Chief Executive Armin Papperger by German magazine Stern. In it he said Rheinmetall is targeting a 10% profit margin on the Leopard tanks. Earlier, the firm also detailed how many tanks it could deliver. A spokesperson told media group RND it could supply 139 if required. That would include 29 of the 2A4 model by April or May, and a further 22 of the same version by late this year or early next. Rheinmetall could also supply 88 of the older Leopard 1 model, but didn’t say by when. Germany is under intense pressure from Ukraine and some NATO allies to supply the tanks. Even if they are second-hand ones coming from a third country, the German-made products would require an export license from Berlin. But German policymakers are wary about approving such supplies, with some fearing they could spark Russian escalation. Poland’s defense minister said Tuesday (January 24) that it had now asked Germany for permission to re-export some of its tanks.