After Poland, Germany has now also delivered the promised Leopard 2A6 main battle tanks to Ukraine. “Yes, we have delivered the Leopard tanks, as announced,” said Chancellor Olaf Scholz during a press conference with Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte in Rotterdam on Monday. Poland had delivered the first four Western main battle tanks of the older Leopard 2A4 type to Ukraine in February.
Now 18 have also been handed over from German stock. They tracked 40 Marder-type infantry fighting vehicles already in the country. “Our tanks arrived on time in the hands of our Ukrainian friends as promised. I’m sure they can do something important on the frontline!” said German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius. Together with Sweden and Portugal, the federal government has promised a battle group. Pistorius said: “To make up for that, Germany actually delivered four more tanks than originally planned. You can count on us!”
According to his ministry, the next step will be to provide older Leopard 1A5 main battle tanks. These are currently being repaired by German industry. The tank repair is therefore financed by Germany, Denmark and the Netherlands. The aim is to deliver the first 25 tanks by the summer, some 80 by the end of the year and to expand to a minimum of 100 Leopard 1A5s over the course of 2024. Experts firmly believe that the Leopard 2 is clearly superior in combat against Russian armored forces. One reason is that it has a stabilized weapon system and so can fire while riding, but the T-72, commonly used by the Russian armed forces, has to stand still for the shot.
British Challenger main battle tanks also arrived
In mid-March, the Ukrainian Leopard 2 crews completed their training on the Leopard with combat firing. At the end of the training, the crews practiced attacking and retreating an enemy at the military training area of Bergen in Lower Saxony. The goal of the training was “for these forces to be able to fight completely independently with this very modern, actually the most modern main battle tank we have to offer,” explained Brigadier General Björn Schulz, commander of the Bundeswehr Armored Forces School. . Between 82 and 85 percent of the target displays were destroyed during the exercises. The German trainers rated this as very good.
On Monday, the Kiev government also announced the acquisition of Britain’s first Challenger-type main battle tanks. Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov said he has been inspecting “new arrivals” from the Ukrainian armed forces – Challenger tanks as well as German Marder infantry fighting vehicles, Cougar armored cars and Stryker armored transporters from the US. “A year ago no one would have expected such strong support from our partners,” Resnikov said on Facebook (see post above). He described the British Challengers as “military works of art”.
Source: Krone
I am Wallace Jones, an experienced journalist. I specialize in writing for the world section of Today Times Live. With over a decade of experience, I have developed an eye for detail when it comes to reporting on local and global stories. My passion lies in uncovering the truth through my investigative skills and creating thought-provoking content that resonates with readers worldwide.
