Spanish artillery and armored vehicle builder Santa Barbara is in the midst of a tug-of-war. The Spanish government put the company up for sale, and the winning bid went to General Dynamics of the US. The deal was signed only three months ago. The problem is that Santa Barbara is building 219 German Leopard-2A6 tanks under license from the German companies Krauss-Maffei and Rheinmetall, and those companies are in a near panic that a US company might gain access to the technology of the Leopard-2A6 tank. The Germans want to raise their bid, and the Spanish seem willing to renege on the sale to the US.--Stephen V Cole