Germany is repurchasing 100 used Leopard 2 tanks, boosting its battlefield fleet to 328 of the armoured behemoths, a Defence Ministry spokesman said in Berlin on Friday, according to dpa.

The 100 are former Germany Army machines that had been sold as surplus to the original manufacturers and are on sale at the dealers.

Spokesman Jens Flosdorff said they would cost 22 million euros (23.28 million dollars) 'as is,' plus the cost of modernizing them starting in 2017.

'These will be repurchased from the industry. These are battle tanks in various states of armament, some of them old. They will be progressively modernized and improved from 2017,' he said.

The 55-ton tracked Leopard 2 is like a mobile fortress with a 120-millimetre main gun.