In January 1993, the Royal Netherlands Army decided to review its Leopard 2A4NL fleet. The Cold War was ending, and the tanks were becoming obsolete. As a result, 115 tanks were sold to Austria, and the remaining 330 were upgraded to the Leopard 2A5NL standard. The upgraded tanks retained features from the previous model, such as new smoke grenades and FN MAG machine guns. They also received upgrades characteristic of the German Leopard 2A5, including improved protection, new thermal sights and electronics, and upgraded optics and stabilizers. The first upgraded NL vehicles entered service in May 1997. However, since the Netherlands decided to abandon its own armored forces, all the tanks were sold by 2011, and the plans to install the new Rheinmetall L/55 gun were never realized.

The Dutch Leopard 2A5NL was introduced in Update 2.41 "Firebirds" as part of the French ground research tree. The tank features a high level of protection and good mobility. It is also highly effective in combat thanks to the DM53 round included in its ammunition loadout. However, its survivability leaves much to be desired. Firing backwards is almost impossible, and most of its vulnerable armor zones remain unchanged. Compared to the German Leopard 2A5, it differs in smoke grenade launchers and machine guns.