Leopard Tanks Ukraine – Madrid will send 10 Leopard 2 tanks to Kyiv, Sanchez said, “in the coming weeks or months.” Finnish Defense Minister Mikko Savola said that his country will send three Leopard 2 tanks, but did not specify the time of their delivery.
Sending Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine will provide Kyiv’s forces with a modern and powerful military vehicle ahead of a potential Russian spring offensive. It will also come as a blow to the Kremlin, which has seen a growing campaign to equip Ukrainian troops with high-tech fighting systems as Russia’s ground war nears the one-year mark.
Leopard Tanks Ukraine
The US has begun supplying refurbished Soviet-era T-72 tanks, but modern western tanks are a generation ahead in terms of their ability to target enemy positions. Ukrainian officials say they need several hundred main battle tanks – not only to defend their current positions but also to take the fight to the enemy in the coming months.
Us To Send Abrams Tanks
As ceremonies to remember the dead took place in Kyiv, western allies sought to demonstrate their support. Ukraine’s blue and yellow colors were projected on the Eiffel Tower, the Brandenburg Gate, the Empire State Building and EU headquarters, and were painted on the street by activists outside the Russian embassy in London.
“There are technical aspects to the Abrams which makes it a little bit more challenging than some systems that we have provided Ukraine in the past,” a senior official said. “It is the most capable tank in the world, but it’s also sophisticated.”
Speaking ahead of the president’s announcement, senior US officials framed the decision as an investment in Ukraine’s “longer term capabilities,” an indication the administration sees the now 11-month-long war extending well into the future. Ukraine hopes the new tanks can help it retake territory seized by Russia, including in the Donbas.
That could also include Crimea, the peninsula annexed by Russia in 2014. “Abrams tanks are the best in the world. This is a tremendous new capability that Ukraine will be getting to boost its long term defenses,” a senior administration official said, noting that the tanks will be procured through the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative funding.
Allies Back Berlin’s Move
“The right decision by NATO Allies and friends to send main battle tanks to Ukraine. Alongside Challenger 2s, they will strengthen Ukraine’s defensive firepower,” British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak wrote on Twitter on Wednesday. “Together, we are accelerating our efforts to ensure Ukraine wins this war and secures a lasting peace.”
Crucially, Berlin’s announcement will likely also encourage other European nations who own Leopards to re-export some of their vehicles. Typically this would require Germany’s approval, and some countries had shown hesitation in sending tanks unless a coalition of nations doing the same could be formed.
The four Leopard 2 tanks are the first of scores that were promised to Ukraine after months of negotiations and pressure on Germany, which holds the export licenses to some 2,000 Leopard 2s of various variants.
And the U.K., which was the first country to offer Ukraine more modern, Western tanks when it promised 14 Challenger 2 tanks, is now training Ukrainian troops on them. But they won’t arrive in Ukraine for several months.
When Will Ukraine Be Able To Use Them?
Italy objected to a rapid phase-out, while Poland blindsided other member states with its insistence that the trade be stopped as soon as possible. EU diplomats voiced frustration that Poland, one of the bloc’s most hawkish voices on sanctions, was prepared to hold up a deal over a relatively minor issue.
Abrams are also “considerably heavier” than most iterations of the Leopard, “so you need to give Ukraine additional engineering and recovery equipment,” Gustav C. Gressel, a senior policy fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR), told CNN
. The full complement will provide Ukraine with two or three brigades—at least “two out of the nine Ukraine is hoping to create for a counter-attack in the spring.” Ledwidge added that Ukraine “is not short of good tanks,” but they’re mostly ex-Soviet vehicles.
Last month, Poland’s leadership—which has been a strong supporter of Ukraine’s fight against Russian aggression since the beginning of the conflict—put pressure on Berlin to approve the transfer of the German-made Leopard tanks within its stocks to Kyiv.
Germans To Send Tanks To Ukraine
“The Abrams tank is a very complicated piece of equipment. It’s expensive. It’s hard to train on. It has a jet engine,” Colin Kahl, the Pentagon’s under secretary of defense for policy, told Reuters last week.
“I just don’t think we’re there yet,” Kahl said at the time on giving the tanks to Ukraine, a sign of how quickly the US position has evolved during the past days of negotiations. The procurement process will take months, the officials said, although Germany’s Leopards will arrive in the nearer term.
In the meantime, the US will begin a “comprehensive training program” for the Ukrainians on the Abrams, which will require significant maintenance once they are deployed. The training will occur outside Ukraine. Some sources attributed Warsaw’s position to hopes of gaining ground for its domestic rubber industry.
“Poland is basically stopping this whole package on February 24 to carve out some putative advantage for the Polish rubber industry,” said one diplomat. Tanks represent the most powerful direct offensive weapon provided to Ukraine so far, a heavily armed and armored system designed to meet the enemy head on instead of firing from a distance.
If used properly with the necessary training, they could allow Ukraine to retake territory against Russian forces that have had time to dig defensive lines. But it will take time for all the tanks pledged to Kyiv to arrive in the war-torn country.
“They’re not going to get the full complement of Leopard tanks for quite a few months, because many of them need to be refurbished and refitted,” Frank Ledwidge, a British former military officer and author, told Newsweek.
“I would think we’re looking at two or three months before they get it.” The dispute over whether the Germans would send Leopards to support Ukraine threatened to show some of the first cracks in the united Western response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
But the announcement from Scholz and Biden shows the US and its allies are still working in lockstep when it comes to supporting President Volodymyr Zelensky and his nation’s fight against the Russians. Morawiecki confirmed that four tanks have been delivered to Ukraine, but he did not specify whether those were the Leopard 1 or the more modern Leopard 2 models;
Bloomberg reported, however, that the four tanks were Leopard 2A4s. The rest of the Leopard tanks Warsaw promised Kyiv will follow soon, Morawiecki said. But Berlin did come through by late January, approving the export of Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine from its own stocks and third parties’ stocks.
Immediately after receiving Germany’s approval, Poland reportedly started training Ukrainian troops to use the Leopard tanks. Duda said that Warsaw would send 14 of the tanks to Kyiv. The US decision to provide Abrams tanks to Ukraine represents an abrupt about-face from its earlier stated position.
While the Biden administration had never taken the possibility of shipping American tanks entirely off the table, US officials said publicly last week that it was not the right time to send the 70-ton M-1 Abrams tanks because they are costly and require a significant
amount of training to operate. The Abrams tanks will take months to arrive, senior administration officials said, and will require extensive training for Ukrainian troops on how to operate and service them. The US must navigate complicated supply chains for the components required for the tanks.
“The right decision by NATO Allies and friends to send main battle tanks to Ukraine. Alongside Challenger 2s, they will strengthen Ukraine’s defensive firepower. Together, we are accelerating our efforts to ensure Ukraine wins this war and secures a lasting peace,” Sunak wrote on Twitter.
Speaking on the first anniversary of the Russian invasion, Poland’s prime minister, Mateusz Morawiecki, confirmed that four Leopard tanks had been delivered to Ukraine. “Poland and Europe stand by your side. We will definitely not leave you, we will support Ukraine until complete victory over Russia,” he said, standing alongside the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, during his visit to Kyiv.
Although Ukraine has stocks of Soviet-era tanks, modern Western tanks provide a greater level of speed and agility. In particular, the Leopard’s relatively low-maintenance demands compared to other models lead experts to believe the tanks could help Ukraine quickly on the battlefield.
The UK had set the precedent for providing Ukraine with main battle tanks last week after it pledged to send Kyiv 14 of its British Army Challenger 2 tanks. The agreement crossed what had previously appeared to be a red line for the US and its European allies.
The Leopard logjam was broken last month after the governments of Germany and the United States announced they would deliver Leopard 2 and M1 Abrams main battle tanks to Ukraine respectively. Possibly even more significant was Berlin’s announcement that it will also issue licenses allowing the transfer of other Leopard 2s from partner countries that also want to deliver them to Ukraine.
The announcement was matched by the US. On Wednesday, President Joe Biden said that he was providing 31 M1 Abrams tanks to Ukraine, reversing the administration’s longstanding resistance to requests from Kyiv for the highly sophisticated but maintenance-heavy vehicles.
Sending tanks into Ukraine was once a red line for Western leaders, who had been generally willing to provide Kyiv with defensive weapons to repel the Russian threat but had shown reluctance to introduce systems which could put Ukrainian forces on the front foot.
The goal is to “quickly assemble” two battalions with Leopard 2 tanks, the German government’s statement said. “The training of the Ukrainian crews is to begin quickly in Germany. In addition to training, the package will also include logistics, ammunition and maintenance of the systems.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s chief of staff welcomed the news and reiterated that the country needed “a lot” of Leopard tanks. Writing on Telegram, Andriy Yermak said: “The first tank step has been taken. Next up is the ‘tank coalition’.
We need a lot of Leopards.” The announcement by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz that he will send Leopard 2 tanks was coupled with an announcement from US President Joe Biden that he was providing 31 M1 Abrams tanks to Ukraine, reversing the administration’s longstanding resistance to requests from Kyiv for the highly sophisticated but maintenance
– heavy vehicles.
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Emma Nehls is a military writer and historian with a passion for exploring the intricacies of warfare and the human experience within the military. With extensive knowledge and a deep understanding of military strategy, tactics, and historical contexts, Nehls brings a unique perspective to his writings.
