Vehicles
With the fall of the Iron Curtain in 1989 and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, the Cold War came to an end, the effects of which were felt internationally. Military thinking and strategies had to be completely revised, reworked, and new goals had to be set. In the Netherlands, it was no different. With the threat from the east gone, new priorities were set out. The Army saw drastic changes, not the least caused by the CFE treaty, signed in 1990, with the aim to reduce the amount of conventional armed forces in Europe. A new focus was laid on participation in peacekeeping missions. These aspects can be clearly observed with army equipment, as large weapon systems were disposed of, such as the Cheetah PRTL, the Leopard 1, and later the Leopard 2, while new materiel was acquired for the new roles, examples being the Sisu XA-188 and the Bushmaster, both wheeled armored vehicles.
Other large quantities of equipment were disposed of, and if replaced, only by much smaller quantities, although generally being more effective weapon systems. This is exemplified by the replacement of the M109A2/90 and M114 howitzers by the Panzerhaubitze 2000 and the YPR-765 by the CV9035NL. Other main armored vehicles are the Boxer, Fennek, and from early 2024 onwards, the Iveco MTV Manticore.
In 2011, it was decided to retire the Leopard 2 from service. In 2016, the Dutch government came back to this decision with a clever new construction by leasing 18 Leopard 2A6MA2 tanks from Germany. They formed a squadron and became part of the German Panzerbatallion 414 which stands under command of the Dutch 43 Mechanized Brigade which in turn is part of the German 1st Panzer Division. In 2023, the government announced that there were studies to acquire more Leopard 2A8 tanks, but did not announce any specific plans.