KNDS and RITEK Start Leopard 2 A8 Production at Levanger — 37 of Norway's 54 Tanks, a Line Sized for 36 a Year
Levanger, 15 October 2026
Key points
- KNDS Deutschland and RITEK, a Norwegian vehicle service and maintenance company, started Leopard 2 A8 production at Levanger on 15 October; KNDS says production has officially begun now that the production and test infrastructure is complete
- 37 of the 54 Leopard 2 A8 NO ordered for the Norwegian Army are to be built at Levanger; KNDS builds the other 17 itself
- The plant, built in about 18 months and opened at the end of April, is designed for up to 36 tanks a year; it has a laser track, steep slopes and a diving basin, and runs on geothermal energy
- The first two Leopard 2 A8 NO were handed to the Norwegian Army on 30 April
Most of Norway's new tanks will be finished in Norway: the Levanger line that KNDS and RITEK opened in April began production in October.
This updates the one-line item in Signal No. 169 and our April report on the first hulls leaving Kiel, which described the 54-tank order as delivered from KNDS's Munich line. KNDS's own April release splits it 37 to 17, Levanger to KNDS. Markus Helm, KNDS Deutschland's finance chief, called the start "far more than a start of production": the build-up of industrial capability and "a lasting partnership between Germany and Norway". Lithuania follows the same pattern later: up to 38 of its 44 tanks are to be assembled at Kaunas, the first at the end of 2028.
A line rated at 36 tanks a year has 37 Norwegian tanks to build: about a year's work at full rate. Either the ramp is slower than the rating, or the plant was sized for more than Norway's share. KNDS has not said which, and no order beyond the 54 has been announced. The first test is the date of the first Levanger-built tank's handover to the army; the second is whether any tank for another customer is booked on the line before Norway's 37 are done.
Related · Leopard 2 A8 production outside Germany
- First Norwegian Leopard 2A8NOR Loaded at Kiel; Norway Second 2A8 Export Operator
- Construction Begins on the Kaunas Leopard 2A8 Plant; EPSO-G Signs for 25.1 Per Cent — "Up to 38" of Lithuania's 44 Tanks to Be Assembled There
- Lithuania Contracts the 13,000-Square-Metre Kaunas Hall Where Its 44 Leopard 2A8s Will Be Assembled
