The Leopard 2 MBT has benefited from continuous development both to meet the requirements of the German Army and export customers. The Leopard 2A5, of which Sweden has 120, was the first model to feature arrowhead-shaped armour on the front of the turret.
Last week should have seen the latest hearing in the UK courts on a debt owed to Iran by a British government company long in the shadows, International Military Services (IMS). The dispute over this debt has lasted more than 40 years. Again, the hearing was postponed.
This week, my wife, Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, was given a new prison sentence in Iran. That debt is the reason she has been held there since 2016.
IMS was set up in the 1960s by a UK body, the Crown Agents, and has been wholly owned by the Ministry of Defence since 1979. IMS sought to promote UK arms sales as Britain looked to project its influence post-Empire, and it was particularly successful in Iran before the Islamic revolution of 1979 overthrew the Shah.