TALLINN. Jan 21 (Interfax-AVN) - Estonian Defense Minister Juri Luik backed a proposal of the Defense Ministry special commission to purchase written-off Leopard-1 tanks in one or several western European countries, a spokesman for the Defense Ministry told Interfax-Military News Agency on Monday.
Many countries are upgrading their weapons stocks, which makes it possible to purchase tanks at lower prices. In particular, Italy and Norway are planning to replace Leopard-1 with Leopard-2 tanks in the near future. Germany will also replace half of its tanks with more up-to-date assets soon.
Trivimi Velliste, deputy chairman of the commission on defense in the Estonian parliament, said there were enough countries at the moment where Estonia could purchase inexpensive tanks.
Both the Defense Ministry and parliament refused to expose the number of tanks to be purchased.