Lince ( tank ) The Lince ( meaning " Lynx " ) was a Spanish main battle tank development program during the late 1980s and early 1990s . It was intended to replace the Spanish Army ' s M47 and M48 Patton tanks which it received through a military assistance program between 1954 and 1975 . The Lince was also intended to complement the AMX - 30E tanks manufactured for the Army during the 1970s . Companies from several nations , such as German Krauss - Maffei , Spanish Santa Bárbara , and French GIAT , bid for the development contract . Focusing on mobility and firepower , the program put secondary priority on protection and aimed for a tank lighter and faster than its competitors . The vehicle ' s size was also restricted by the Spanish railroad and highway network . To achieve a sufficient level of firepower and protection , given the size requirements , the Lince was to use Rheinmetall ' s 120mm L / 44 tank - gun and German composite armor from the Leopard 2A4 . The Spanish government decided to upgrade its AMX - 30Es in the late 1980s , which distracted attention from the program . The Lince was eventually cancelled in 1990 when Spain adopted a large number of North American M60 Patton tanks retired from Europe in accordance with the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe . These tanks replaced the M47s and M48s , and fulfilled Spain ' s need to modernize its tank forces in the short term . Prototypes were not manufactured and no announcements were made on who would receive the contract . Four years later , the Spanish government managed to procure and locally manufacture the Leopard 2 , fulfilling the long term modernization goal established in the Lince program . Background . During the 1950s the Spanish Army was supplied by the United States with 552 M47 and M48 Patton tanks as a mutual defense pact against a potential Soviet invasion of Western Europe . The first tanks were delivered in 1954 , and the fleet was upgraded in the 1970s to equal the capabilities of M60 Patton tanks . Spain was , however , interested in replacing these tanks as early as the 1960s with the French AMX - 30 or German Leopard 1 . It was eventually decided to purchase the French tank and by 1975 the Spanish Army had 299 AMX - 30s , designated as AMX - 30Es . 280 of these tanks were manufactured by the local company Empresa Nacional Santa Bárbara ( now Santa Bárbara Sistemas ) who received the AMX - 30 patent from the French company GIAT . As the first batch of production of AMX - 30s ended , the Spanish Army and Santa Bárbara began a research program for an eventual modernization of the AMX - 30 to correct deficiencies such as mechanical reliability , armor protection and the fire control system . In fielding the AMX - 30E , the Army found their upgraded M47s and M48s to be outdated ; their earliest M47 tank was more than 30 years old . They required a modern tank that could complement their AMX - 30Es and started looking for a replacement for their Patton fleet . Bidding . In 1984 , the Spanish Ministry of Defense declared its intent to set aside 120 billion " pesetas " ( 1 . 1 billion dollars ) for a future tank program and attracted interest from five foreign companies . German company Krauss - Maffei and Spanish company Santa Bárbara presented a joint bid in mid - 1984 that would produce a tank based on 1970s technology . The French government proposed to cooperate with Spain in designing a tank complete with new technology — they would later develop this program on their own as the AMX - Leclerc . However , the French admitted that there would be restrictions placed on Empresa Nacional Santa Bárbara when it came to exporting the tank . The Italian government proposed a similar deal for a cooperative tank design . The American company General Dynamics and British company Vickers offered the M1 Abrams and Valiant , respectively ; the Spanish government rejected their offers the following year because of the low likelihood of local production and export of the tank . By late 1985 , the only offers still under consideration were those from the German - Spanish collaboration and the French and Italian governments . Krauss - Maffei ' s Lince bid provided the clearest technical designs . The tank would be forty - ninetonnes and equipped with a 120 - millimeter main gun . It could fire this gun on the move and aim at targets with effectiveness in day and night operations . Fitted with a 1 , 200horsepower ( 894 . 84 kW ) engine , the Lince could travel as fast as 70kilometers per hour ( 43 . 50 mph ) on the roads . Although heavily based on the Leopard 2A4 , the Lince was smaller and lighter , trading protection for mobility . Specifically , the Lince prioritised enhanced mobility over the irregular Spanish terrain . Furthermore , size restrictions were imposed due to the existing capabilities of Spain ' s railroad and highway network . Although the reduced armor conflicted with the problems that the Spanish had with AMX - 30E ' s thin armor , the Lince used a multi - layer armor similar to that of the German Leopard 2A4 , providing greater protection than standard armor for a similar weight . The protection was further enhanced by the low profile turret , again similar to that of the Leopard 2A4 . In early 1986 , the Ministry of Defense declared that it would choose a contract within a matter of months . News sources cited that Krauss - Maffei would most likely gain the contract , although the French might get it due to past and existing French armament contracts with Spain . Apart from producing the French - designed AMX - 30 , the Spanish government also had a contract for Mirage F1 fighter planes and Puma utility helicopters in 1979 . In early 1987 , France again offered Spain the contract to co - develop and co - produce the AMX - Leclerc . This time they added the lucrative term of joint export . Despite the offer and ongoing collaboration with the Italians , Spanish investment in the German - Spanish Lince program grew up to 200 billion pesetas ( 1 . 8 billion dollars ) . However , the Spanish government did not announce any winner for the contract . This indecision led Krauss - Maffei to freeze their bid for the Lince . Krauss - Maffei also cited the loss of millions of dollars due to failures on part of Santa Bárbara Sistemas , who would manufacture the Lince . Decline of the program . The Spanish Ministry of Defense agreed to modernize the Army ' s AMX - 30Es in 1987 and alloted 16billion pesetas ( 155million dollars ) to the program . Army upgraded their entire AMX - 30E fleet to EM1 and EM2 standards . This upgrading program posed a threat to the Lince program . Around the same time the Spanish government expressed interest in acquiring American M60 Patton tanks that were being retired from Central Europe , in accordance with the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe . In October and November , the Spanish government began to negotiate for 400 to 500 M60A1 and M60A3 tanks , and planned to upgrade their acquired M60A1 tanks to M60A3 standards . In December , the United States agreed to transfer 532 M60A1 and M60A3 tanks to replace Spain ' s M47s and M48s . After receiving 50 of the 272 A1s , Spain canceled procurement of these tanks and opted to only receive the 260 M60A3s . Due to the modernization of the AMX - 30 , the decision to replace older Patton tanks with the M60A3 and Krauss - Maffei ' s criticism of the management of the indigenous tank program , the Lince was canceled in 1989 . Management issues in Santa Bárbara Sistemas also played their part , including yearly negative balances and the reduction of factory personnel . However , unlike the planned Lince , the M60s only satisfied Spain ' s immediate need to modernize the army ' s tank fleet in the short term . They were not a long term modernization solution as Spain ' s M47s and M48s had already been upgraded to equivalents of the M60 . As a result , Spain negotiated with Germany over the procurement and local production of a large number of Leopard 2A5s ; a Memorandum of Understanding was signed between the two in 1995 , and the Germans loaned 108 Leopard 2A4s to the Spanish Army for five years starting from 1998 . In 2005 , the Spanish Ministry of Defense declared intentions to buy the tanks instead of renting them . The local production terms in the Memorandum allowed Santa Bárbara Sistemas to start producing Leopard 2E s in 2003 , and the first platoon of tanks was delivered in December 2003 . In comparison to the smaller Lince , the Leopard 2A4 weighs 55 tonnes ( 61 . 1 tons ) and is powered by a 1 , 500 hp ( 1 , 103 kW ) diesel engine . The greater weight of the Leopard 2A4 is due in part to its thicker armor , affording greater protection and balancing out the loss in mobility as compared to the Lince .