This year, Belgium intends to provide Ukraine with €1 billion in military aid. A significant portion, €650 million, will fund contracts with local defense companies to supply weapons to Ukraine, according to the country’s new defense minister, Theo Francken.
Belgian outlet De Tijd recently revealed more details about this aid package. It includes around one hundred Unimog vehicles (some in armored medical evacuation versions), five uncrewed surface vessels, various drones and counter-drone systems, night vision devices, helmets, small arms, and more.
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Most notably, Belgium plans to deliver a "main battle tank Leopard with a new turret for testing purposes" to Ukraine. While there has been no official announcement, previous reports indicated that the Ukrainian Defense Forces may already operate Belgian Leopard 1A5BE tanks.
The upgraded variant now headed for Ukraine features the unmanned Cockerill 3105 turret, armed with a 105mm Cockerill HP gun. Although no official roadmap has been published, successful field testing and positive feedback from Ukrainian forces could pave the way for a large-scale modernization of the Leopard 1 fleet in Ukraine, which includes more than a hundred vehicles.
One known drawback of this upgrade is the need to modify the original Leopard 1A5 hulls. This is due to the turret's internal configuration, which may require the addition of a structural “ring” to accommodate its height. Although John Cockerill representatives previously claimed the hull wouldn't necessarily need to be modified, practical implementation might differ.
It remains unclear how much time and money the full modernization effort would require. However, the upgraded platform shows real potential as a modernized fire-support vehicle.
Other notable elements of Belgium’s defense aid package include 20 Cerberus air defense systems — likely a new, undisclosed system. While no technical details are available, the system could resemble the American Vampire counter-drone system.
Interestingly, the package also refers to the launch of domestic Ukrainian production lines for 70mm guided rockets. This likely concerns the FZ275 LGR developed by Thales Belgium: laser-guided 70mm rockets, previously mentioned in 2024 as part of a planned Ukrainian–Belgian defense industry partnership.
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