Report: Saudi Arabia Mulls German Tank Deal

Dec. 29, 2012 –  Defense News (AFP)

BERLIN — Saudi Arabia is planning to buy 30 German Dingo 2 armoured vehicles worth about 100 million euros, Bild am Sonntag reported in its Sunday edition.

Quoting sources close to the talks on a deal, the paper said Riyadh could eventually purchase up to 100 of the mine resistant, ambush protected Dingos.

The Dingo 2 is advertised by its maker Krauss-Maffei Wegmann as “the safest and best-protected wheeled vehicle in its class” with an “outstanding performance on extremely difficult terrains and under extreme climatic conditions”.

The vehicle is also fitted with a nuclear biological and chemical protection system.

Germany’s national security council of which Chancellor Angela Merkel is a member is still to make a final decision on the deal but has already given the green light in principle, said the weekly.

Saudi Arabia has repeatedly shown an interest in German tanks.

Earlier this year Bild am Sonntag reported, quoting government sources, that Riyadh wanted to buy 600-800 Leopard battle tanks, more than twice as many as originally envisaged.

For decades Germany has declined to sell such heavy weapons to Saudi Arabia because of concerns over human rights and fears for Israel’s security.

Opposition politicians and even some members of Merkel’s ruling centre-right coalition had slammed the reported tank sale, particularly in light of pro-democracy uprisings throughout the Middle East.