One hundred western tanks will try to break the Russian Azov front in the spring: Leopard, Abrams, Challenger and Leclerc for the T-90
Regain the initiative, break the Russian front in the southeast and move forward; in short, change the course of the war. The international coalition that has been supplying Kiev with weapons since March 2022 has two to three months to send combat armor and train the Ukrainian army in their respective countries.
The United Kingdom is the first country to begin training 14 units of the Challenger. Germany, owner of the Leopard license, will transfer 14 main battle tanks, as will Poland. The United States approved an initial batch of 31 Abrams, while Finland, Norway, the Netherlands or Spain individually handle fewer than ten Leopards. Russia, for its part, began transferring 100 T-90 tanks to Lugansk in December.
The Army has a crew of 347 Leopards: 239 are of the 2E model (manufactured from 2003 by the national firm Santa Bárbara Sistemas, today General Dynamics) and 108 are of the 2A4, which were leased second-hand to Germany in 1995. three years later and were purchased in 2005 for approximately 15 million euros. Of this item, 53 have been “stored” since 2012 in the facilities of the Logistics Support Group number 41, in Casetas (Zaragoza).
Although they are “in an absolutely unfortunate situation (…) and endangering people,” as Secretary of State Margarita Robles admitted last August, the units sent to Ukraine in about three months will come out of this donation. This requires the completion of the “fourth step” assessment process, i.e. an in-depth examination to ensure its full usefulness in a war.
The European allies who will also send their leopards usually bet on more modern versions than the Spanish ones. Poland is thinking of the 2A5 and 2PL (equal to the 2A6, two generations ahead of the Spanish army); The Netherlands also opts for this version, while Finland and Norway will assess the usability of their old stored 2A4 before deciding.
The Leopard is the ultimate battle tank among continental allies. At least 15 countries have 2,405 units, which are distributed as follows:
The United States has confirmed the shipment of 31 Abrams model M1, the most advanced and complex armored combat in existence. It is equipped with an automated ballistic fire control system that allows it to achieve a 95% hit rate on the move.
Manufactured by General Dynamics, it also has an engine based on a powerful turbine and advanced armor. He has previous experience in international missions such as Iraq with good results.
The United Kingdom was one of the first countries to confirm the shipment of tanks to Kiev and their units will be on the battlefield by the end of March. There will be 14 Challenger-model main battle tanks, the historic national battleship that entered service in the late 1990s.
It has successfully participated in missions in Bosnia, Kosovo and Iraq and its modernization program runs until 2035.
Following Berlin’s approval to send the Leopard, France changed its mind about the initial array of some AMC-10 RC tank destroyers or light battle tanks (with wheels instead of chains) and even considered chartering its jewel in the crown . : the AMX-56 Leclerc, a national project.
The most recent operational experience of Leclerc acquired by the United Arab Emirates is the war in Yemen, where the Russian anti-tank missiles of the Houthi militias damaged several units.
During the invasion of Ukraine, Russia deployed the most modern variant of the T-90M, the model Proryv-3, with the aim of breaking the resistance of the Ukrainian defenses in the south and east of the country.
It has a hundred units and last May near the city of Kharkov it suffered its first casualty with the destruction of a team with a portable recoilless gun, according to part of the British Ministry of Defense, which has identified the vulnerability of the T-90M as they don’t have greater security coverage.
Source: La Verdad
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