Allison Quinn
Wed, January 25, 2023
Getty
It didn’t take long for Russian officials to start foaming at the mouth and ranting about global conspiracies after Germany agreed to deliver its Leopard 2 battle tanks to Ukraine on Wednesday.
After weeks of resistance, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced that, along with allies, the country would provide 88 of the battle tanks to Ukraine, effectively giving Kyiv more firepower to launch new offensives. The Biden administration was also expected to announce a deal to send 30 M1 Abrams tanks to the country.
The Russian Embassy in Berlin was among the first out of the gate after the news broke—offering a bizarre, if not deranged, take: “Berlin’s decision signifies the unequivocal refusal of the Federal Republic of Germany to recognize historical responsibility to our people for the terrible, timeless crimes of Nazism,” Russian Ambassador Sergei Nechayev said in a statement.
The statement went on to say the tanks would also put an end to “postwar reconciliation between Russians and Germans” and “take the conflict to a new level of confrontation.”
Kremlin mouthpiece Margarita Simonyan, the editor-in-chief of RT, joined Russian diplomats in offering up far-fetched Nazi comparisons.
“After a flogging by Washington, Germany will send 14 tanks to Ukraine. Closer to summer, deliveries of gas chambers are also expected,” Simonyan tweeted.
TV propagandist Vladimir Solovyov called European leaders “Nazi scumbags” and argued that the delivery of Leopard tanks to Ukraine makes all of Germany a “legitimate” military target for Russia.
He claimed Germany has “forgotten its historical guilt” and must pay for it.
Sergei Aksyonov, the Kremlin’s man in charge in occupied Crimea—one of the territories Ukrainian authorities may use the tanks to take back—published what he said were the schematics of Germany’s Leopard 2A4 tank on Telegram.
Swarm of Tanks Is Just the Start of Putin’s New Nightmare
“I am sure that everyone will be able to find more detailed information about the vulnerabilities of this… on their own, and the command will provide our fighters with everything necessary to destroy the descendants of the fascist ‘Tiger’ and ‘Panther’ [tanks used in WWII],” Aksyonov wrote.
Pro-Kremlin pundits unanimously bent themselves into knots (and broke their brains) trying to prove a global Nazi conspiracy.
“Tank conspiracy. 14 Challenger tanks will be supplied by Britain to the Armed Forces of Ukraine. And it was also announced that Germany will supply the Armed Forces of Ukraine with 14 Leopard tanks. Is this some kind of secret number they have, 14? It turns out yes. 14 is a secret fascist number,” wrote political analyst Sergei Markov, noting that 14 “is the number of words” in two slogans used decades ago by the American neo-Nazi David Lane.
“Thus, the number of Challenger and Leopard tanks is a secret message from the governments of Britain and Germany: ‘We know that these tanks are for the Nazis,’” Markov said.
He did not explain how his “14” theory holds up in light of several other countries sending an entirely different number of tanks.
Is 30—the number of Abrams tanks reportedly to be supplied by the U.S.—also a “secret” fascist number? The Kremlin has yet to confirm, though Vladimir Putin’s spokesman on Wednesday blasted the purported deal for U.S. tanks as “absurd” and bound to fail.
“This is a really disastrous plan, and most importantly, this is a clear overestimation of the potential this will give to the armed forces of Ukraine,” spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, according to Russia’s Interfax news agency.
The Abrams tanks, he said, “will burn just like all the others.”
Despite Peskov’s bluster, some pro-Kremlin military bloggers appeared fully aware the tanks could give Ukrainian forces a new competitive edge on the battlefield.
“The ice has broken and NATO tanks are heading to Ukraine. It looks like all the arguments about who would be the first to send them led to everyone sending them all at once,” wrote one popular pro-war Telegram channel.
Russians Urged to Keep Kids Indoors—as Wagner’s Freed Convicts Come Home
Other prominent figures appeared to suggest the decision to send tanks simply means the rest of the world isn’t frightened enough of Russia.
“Russia’s impotence in the field of foreign policy must be compensated for with military successes. Or the threat of military success. Or just a threat,” argued state TV host Sergei Mardan.
“Why not then arrange a random visit to Estonia of a Russian tank squadron, or a guided-missile cruiser in the Gulf of Riga? Or a random flight of Kalibr [cruise missiles] over all of Poland? Then we don’t even need to apologize, no one needs our apologies. We need local horror and an understanding that Russia is unavoidably nearby and stronger than ever.”
The Daily Beast.
Germany to send Leopard tanks to Kyiv, allow others to do so - sources
German Chancellor Scholz visits German army training at a military base in Bergen
Tue, January 24, 2023
BERLIN (Reuters) -German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has decided to send Leopard 2 battle tanks to Ukraine and allow other countries such as Poland to do so while the United States may supply Abrams tanks, two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.
A government spokesperson, the foreign ministry and the defence ministry declined to comment.
The decision concerns at least one company of Leopard 2 A6 tanks that will be provided out of Bundeswehr stocks, said Spiegel magazine, which first reported the news. One company usually comprises 14 tanks.
"Today the Chancellor made a decision that no one took lightly. The fact that Germany will support Ukraine with the Leopard tank is a strong sign of solidarity," Christian Duerr, parliamentary leader of the co-governing Free Democrats (FDP) was quoted as saying by t-online news portal.
"The #Leopard's freed!," Katrin Goering-Eckardt, vice president of the Bundestag, tweeted, sharing a link of media report on the news.
Other allies, in Scandinavia for example, intend to go along with Germany in supplying their Leopard tanks to Kyiv, the magazine reported.
In the longer term, more tanks could be restored to be fit for use, according to the magazine.
U.S. officials told Reuters that Washington may soon drop its opposition to sending Abrams tanks to Ukraine, in a move intended to encourage Germany to follow.
The Pentagon declined to comment on any coming announcements on the Abrams. It also declined to comment on whether Germany might green light deliveries of the Leopards.
Defence "Secretary (Lloyd) Austin did have very productive conversations with his German counterpart when he was in Germany" for meetings last week, Brigadier General Patrick Ryder told a news conference.
(Reporting by Riham Alkousaa, Andreas Rinke, Holger Hansen in Berlin, Phil Stewart and Idrees Ali in Washington; writing by Sabine Siebold; editing by Jonathan Oatis)
Tank maker Rheinmetall raises sales view, asks Berlin for firm orders
Germany delivers its first Leopard tanks to Slovakia, in Bratislava
Tue, January 24, 2023
By Anneli Palmen and Christoph Steitz
DUESSELDORF/FRANKFURT (Reuters) - German defence group Rheinmetall on Tuesday raised its sales expectations for 2025 on higher demand for weapons due to the war in Ukraine and called on Berlin to speed up planned big orders and make good on a pledge to boost its armed forces.
The comments by Rheinmetall CEO Armin Papperger come as Germany has earmarked 100 billion euros ($109 billion) to bring its military back up to scratch after decades of attrition since the end of the Cold War.
They also come as Germany comes under pressure to step up defence supplies to Ukraine, including Leopard tanks manufactured by Rheinmetall together with Krauss-Maffei Wegmann.
Papperger said Germany's investment plans needed to be mapped out quickly and that Chancellor Olaf Scholz's plan to upgrade Germany's troops needed to start properly this year.
"The entire German industry is ready. The resources are there, the people are there, we also have the know-how," Papperger said at an industry event hosted by German business daily Handelsblatt.
He said what was needed now was close coordination with the German government so defence companies such as Rheinmetall, which spent 700 million euros in capacity expansion and hired 2,000 new staff last year, have planning security.
Papperger told German magazine Stern that he expects sales to grow to between 11 billion and 12 billion euros ($12 billion to $13 billion) in 2025, up from a range of 10 billion to 11 billion euros given by the company in November.
For 2022 the company expects sales of 6.5 billion euros.
UKRAINE
Rheinmetall has so far supplied Ukraine with air defence systems, which are also used to combat drones, along with various types of ammunition, military trucks and a field hospital, Papperger told the magazine.
He added that the group had also sold Leopard tanks and Marder infantry fighting vehicles as well as trucks as part of a swap system whereby countries that still have Soviet equipment hand it over to Ukraine and Germany backfills with more modern Western equipment.
Papperger said that while the company was in theory able to produce more artillery ammunition than the United States, it has "not received a single order".
MORE TANKS
Germany has so far resisted pressure from Ukraine and some NATO allies, such as Poland, to allow Kyiv to be supplied with German-made Leopard 2 tanks to defend itself against Russia.
The Leopard 2 battle tank is armed with Rheinmetall's 120mm smoothbore gun and the company also supplies ammunition, fire control technology and C4I systems for it.
A company spokesperson told media group RND that it could deliver 139 Leopard tanks to Ukraine if needed.
Rheinmetall could send 29 Leopard 2A4 tanks by April/May and a further 22 around the end of this year or early 2024, the spokesperson was quoted as saying.
It could also supply 88 older Leopard 1 tanks, the spokesperson said, without giving a timeframe for potential delivery.
Asked how much the company earns from Leopard 2 battle tanks, he said Rheinmetall was targeting a profit margin before tax of at least 10%.
"We're working for national and European security - and that includes fair prices," the 59-year-old Papperger said.
Rheinmetall, which also makes Marder infantry fighting vehicles, could gain further from the 100 billion euro defence spending plans announced by Chancellor Scholz shortly after Russia invaded Ukraine.
However most of those plans, hailed at the time as a new era of more assertive German foreign policy backed by military spending, are still unclear.
UBS last week downgraded Rheinmetall to "neutral" from "buy". It said positives, including mid-term defence spending, had been priced into the stock.
Its shares have risen 170% in the past year.
Further upside depends on the order flow from the government's spending plans, which is not yet reflected in Rheinmetall's order log, the bank said.
($1 = 0.9210 euros)
(Reporting by Anneli Palmen and Christoph Steitz; Additional reporting by Josephine Mason and Sabine Siebold; writing by Madeline Chambers; editing by David Goodman and Jason Neely)
Germany delivers its first Leopard tanks to Slovakia, in Bratislava
Tue, January 24, 2023
By Anneli Palmen and Christoph Steitz
DUESSELDORF/FRANKFURT (Reuters) - German defence group Rheinmetall on Tuesday raised its sales expectations for 2025 on higher demand for weapons due to the war in Ukraine and called on Berlin to speed up planned big orders and make good on a pledge to boost its armed forces.
The comments by Rheinmetall CEO Armin Papperger come as Germany has earmarked 100 billion euros ($109 billion) to bring its military back up to scratch after decades of attrition since the end of the Cold War.
They also come as Germany comes under pressure to step up defence supplies to Ukraine, including Leopard tanks manufactured by Rheinmetall together with Krauss-Maffei Wegmann.
Papperger said Germany's investment plans needed to be mapped out quickly and that Chancellor Olaf Scholz's plan to upgrade Germany's troops needed to start properly this year.
"The entire German industry is ready. The resources are there, the people are there, we also have the know-how," Papperger said at an industry event hosted by German business daily Handelsblatt.
He said what was needed now was close coordination with the German government so defence companies such as Rheinmetall, which spent 700 million euros in capacity expansion and hired 2,000 new staff last year, have planning security.
GRAPHIC: Rheinmetall shares rally - https://fingfx.thomsonreuters.com/gfx/mkt/xmvjklwaxpr/rheinmetall.PNG
Papperger told German magazine Stern that he expects sales to grow to between 11 billion and 12 billion euros ($12 billion to $13 billion) in 2025, up from a range of 10 billion to 11 billion euros given by the company in November.
For 2022 the company expects sales of 6.5 billion euros.
UKRAINE
Rheinmetall has so far supplied Ukraine with air defence systems, which are also used to combat drones, along with various types of ammunition, military trucks and a field hospital, Papperger told the magazine.
He added that the group had also sold Leopard tanks and Marder infantry fighting vehicles as well as trucks as part of a swap system whereby countries that still have Soviet equipment hand it over to Ukraine and Germany backfills with more modern Western equipment.
Papperger said that while the company was in theory able to produce more artillery ammunition than the United States, it has "not received a single order".
MORE TANKS
Germany has so far resisted pressure from Ukraine and some NATO allies, such as Poland, to allow Kyiv to be supplied with German-made Leopard 2 tanks to defend itself against Russia.
The Leopard 2 battle tank is armed with Rheinmetall's 120mm smoothbore gun and the company also supplies ammunition, fire control technology and C4I systems for it.
A company spokesperson told media group RND that it could deliver 139 Leopard tanks to Ukraine if needed.
Rheinmetall could send 29 Leopard 2A4 tanks by April/May and a further 22 around the end of this year or early 2024, the spokesperson was quoted as saying.
It could also supply 88 older Leopard 1 tanks, the spokesperson said, without giving a timeframe for potential delivery.
Asked how much the company earns from Leopard 2 battle tanks, he said Rheinmetall was targeting a profit margin before tax of at least 10%.
"We're working for national and European security - and that includes fair prices," the 59-year-old Papperger said.
Rheinmetall, which also makes Marder infantry fighting vehicles, could gain further from the 100 billion euro defence spending plans announced by Chancellor Scholz shortly after Russia invaded Ukraine.
However most of those plans, hailed at the time as a new era of more assertive German foreign policy backed by military spending, are still unclear.
UBS last week downgraded Rheinmetall to "neutral" from "buy". It said positives, including mid-term defence spending, had been priced into the stock.
Its shares have risen 170% in the past year.
Further upside depends on the order flow from the government's spending plans, which is not yet reflected in Rheinmetall's order log, the bank said.
($1 = 0.9210 euros)
(Reporting by Anneli Palmen and Christoph Steitz; Additional reporting by Josephine Mason and Sabine Siebold; writing by Madeline Chambers; editing by David Goodman and Jason Neely)
Germany approves transfer of Leopard tanks to Ukraine, Spiegel reports
Tue, January 24, 2023
Leopard-2 at military exercises in Poland
The German government previously said it would consider the matter and arrive at a decision on Jan. 25.
Read also: Rheinmetall ‘ready to send 139 Leopard tanks’ to Ukrainian army
Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, Andriy Yermak, wrote on Telegram that Ukraine needs Western tanks to restore its territorial integrity.
“Several hundred tanks for our crews, the best tank crews in the world,” said Yermak.
“This would be a real strike of democracy against autocracy from the northern swamps.”
Citing an unnamed Ukrainian official, ABC news previously reported that representatives of 12 countries agreed to supply Ukraine with around 100 German-made Leopard-2 tanks, pending Germany’s approval.
Read also: Baltic countries call on Germany to deliver Leopard tanks to Ukraine as soon as possible
Earlier on Jan. 24, The Wall Street Journal reported Washington is leaning towards supplying Ukraine with a “significant” quantity of Abrams M1 main battle tanks, with the corresponding announcement expected within days.
Defense ministers of Ukraine’s international partners gathered at the U.S. Air Force Ramstein base in Germany on Jan. 20, discussing the ongoing and future efforts to equip Kyiv’s troops with modern weapons.
Following the summit, Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov said that countries have achieved “a positive breakthrough” regarding the Leopard-2 tanks. He explained that the meeting participants agreed that countries with Leopard 2s in service could begin training Ukrainian tank crews.
Read also: US, Germany stuck in standoff over sending tanks to Ukraine — media reports
Following numerous Ukrainian requests, Poland has decided to transfer German-made Leopard main battle tanks to Ukraine, Polish President Andrzej Duda said during his visit to Lviv, Ukraine, on Jan. 11, where he met with his Ukrainian and Lithuanian counterparts, Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Gitanas Nauseda.
Earlier in January, UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak decided to provide Ukraine with 14 Challenger 2 tanks, making the United Kingdom the first Western country to equip Kyiv with modern heavy tanks.
Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine
A look at Leopard 2 tanks that could soon be sent to Ukraine
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz speaks to soldiers in front of a Leopard 2 main battle tank after the Army's training and instruction exercise in Ostenholz, Germany, Monday, oct. 17, 2022. Germany has become one of Ukraine's leading weapons suppliers in the 11 months since Russia's invasion. The debate among allies about the merits of sending battle tanks to Ukraine has focused the spotlight relentlessly on Germany, whose Leopard 2 tank is used by many other countries and has long been sought by Kyiv. (Moritz Frankenberg/dpa via AP, FILE)
JAMEY KEATEN and FRANK JORDANS
Mon, January 23, 2023
GENEVA (AP) — Following intense pressure from its allies, Germany appears to be inching toward approving deliveries of high-tech Leopard 2 main battle tanks that Ukraine and its biggest Western backers hope will boost Kyiv’s fight against Russian invaders.
Over the weekend, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said Berlin would not get in the way if Poland — arguably Ukraine's most vocal supporter among European Union neighbors — wants to ship Leopard 2 tanks from its arsenal across the border into Ukraine. And Germany is not ruling out supplying such tanks to Ukraine itself, cautioning however that the implications of such a step need to be carefully weighed.
Here's a look at what those tanks might mean for Ukraine's defense against Russian forces — and hopes for driving them out.
WHAT IS THE LEOPARD 2?
Germany's Krauss-Maffei Wegmann, the manufacturer of the Leopard 2, touts it as “the world's leading battle tank" that for nearly a half-century has combined aspects of firepower, protection, speed and maneuverability, making it adaptable to many types of combat situations.
The 55-ton tank has a crew of four and a range of about 500 kilometers (310 miles), and top speeds of about 68 kilometers per hour (about 42 mph). Now with four main variants, its earliest version first came into service in 1979. Its main weapon is a 120mm smooth bore gun, and it has a fully-digital fire-control system.
HOW MANY COULD BE SENT TO UKRAINE?
One big appeal of the German-made tanks are their sheer number: More than 2,000 have been deployed in over a dozen European countries and Canada. Overall, Krauss-Maffei Wegmann says over 3,500 units have been supplied to 19 countries.
Rheinmetall AG, a German defense contractor that makes the 120mm smoothbore gun on the Leopard 2, says the tank has been deployed by “more nations than any other."
According to a recent analysis by the International Institute for Strategic Studies, a London-based global think tank, some 350 Leopard 2s — in different versions — have been sent to Greece, and Poland has about 250 of varying types. Finland has 200 in operation or in storage.
For Ukraine's war against Russia, “it is believed that for the Leopard 2 tanks to have any significant effect on the fighting, around 100 tanks would be required,” the International Institute for Strategic Studies analysts wrote.
Ukraine's defense minister wants 300 tanks, and some European Union leaders support him on that.
“We need a fleet of 300 tanks,” Luxembourg’s Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn said Monday in Brussels, alluding to the wide deployment of Leopards across Europe and the need for “synchronous” weaponry — that can operate smoothly together.
Getting Leopards into Ukrainian hands isn't as easy as rolling them across the border from friends farther West in Europe. The International Institute for Strategic Studies estimates that three to six weeks of training would be needed for operating crews and support staff to reach basic proficiency.
Ralf Raths, director of the Panzer Museum in Munster, Germany, said experienced Ukrainian tank crews would likely be able to learn to use the Leopard 2 fairly quickly, and training could be shortened to focus on essential knowledge.
“Do you really have to exploit 100% of the potential or is it enough to utilize 80% in half the time? Ukrainians will certainly vote for option B,” he said.
WHAT DIFFERENCE WOULD IT MAKE TO THE WAR?
Yohann Michel, a research analyst for defense and military affairs at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, said such tanks could allow Ukraine to go onto the offensive in the 11-month-old conflict that has been stalemated for months following two key Ukrainian counteroffensives that recaptured areas occupied by Russian forces for months in the northeast and south.
“In this type of conflict, it's just not possible to carry out large-scale offensives without the full variety of armored combat equipment and armored vehicles, and tanks are a part of that," he said. In addition to Main Battle Tanks, or MBTs, like the Leopard 2, others include infantry fighting vehicles and armored personnel carriers.
Western deliveries of Leopard 2s could help equip Ukraine with needed high-caliber munitions to replace its own dwindling Soviet-era stockpiles, opening a new avenue for supplies of Western firepower to get to Ukraine, he said.
Raths noted that the Leopard 2 and similar Western tanks are more agile than T-models used by Russia, which can't reverse at speed, for example.
“Imagine a boxer who cannot move freely in the ring, but only in one direction,” he said. “The other boxer, who can move in all directions, has a big advantage and that it is the case with the Leopards.”
Still, even Western MBTs are vulnerable to aerial attacks, or anti-tank infantry while in forests and urban areas, highlighting the importance of anti-aircraft and reconnaissance support, said Raths.
With similar numbers of tanks on both sides, Leopards 2 and similar tanks could give Ukraine the upper hand, especially given the poor tactical performance of Russian troops during the war, he said.
“The Ukrainians shine through creative, dynamic and often very clean warfare,” Raths said. “So it could well be that if Ukraine’s operational offensive were to begin, the Russians would have real problems countering it.”
Niklas Masuhr, a researcher at the Center for Security Studies at Switzerland’s federal polytechnic university ETHZ, based in Zurich, cautioned that the addition of Leopards to the battlefield alone wouldn’t be “a game changer or a war-winning technology, anything like that.”
“You can’t just deploy a bunch of main battle tanks and assume they will win,” he said. “They’re very valuable, but you still need to use them in the correct way and integrate them with all the other military tools that you have at your disposal,” such as infantry, artillery, air defense, combat engineers and helicopters.
WHY DOESN'T UKRAINE HAVE LEOPARDS ALREADY?
Germany has final say about whether Leopard 2s can be delivered — even from other countries' arsenals — and has been reticent about anyone shipping them to Ukraine.
More-hawkish Western allies have been stepping up the pressure on Germany, but the United States has also refused to send its powerful M1 Abrams tanks.
The United States announced an upcoming new package of military aid that is expected to include nearly 100 Stryker combat vehicles and at least 50 Bradley armored vehicles — but not the Abrams, which U.S. officials say has complex maintenance needs and may not be the best fit.
Allies and military analysts say the Leopard 2 is diesel-powered — not driven by jet fuel that powers the M1 Abrams — and is easier to operate than the big U.S. tanks, and thus has shorter training times.
Britain this month announced it will send Challenger 2 tanks to Ukraine, and the Czech Republic and Poland have provided Soviet-era T-72 tanks to Ukrainian forces. French President Emmanuel Macron said Sunday that he had asked his defense minister to “work on” the idea of sending some of France’s Leclerc battle tanks to Ukraine.
Even if modern western MBTs are superior to their Russian counterparts, donor countries supplying them need to prepare for losses, Raths said.
The Leopard 2 “is an offensive weapon that will be thrown into high-intensity battles," he said. "Vehicles will be destroyed, and people will die in these tanks.”
___
Jordans reported from Berlin.
Tue, January 24, 2023
Leopard-2 at military exercises in Poland
The German government previously said it would consider the matter and arrive at a decision on Jan. 25.
Read also: Rheinmetall ‘ready to send 139 Leopard tanks’ to Ukrainian army
Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, Andriy Yermak, wrote on Telegram that Ukraine needs Western tanks to restore its territorial integrity.
“Several hundred tanks for our crews, the best tank crews in the world,” said Yermak.
“This would be a real strike of democracy against autocracy from the northern swamps.”
Citing an unnamed Ukrainian official, ABC news previously reported that representatives of 12 countries agreed to supply Ukraine with around 100 German-made Leopard-2 tanks, pending Germany’s approval.
Read also: Baltic countries call on Germany to deliver Leopard tanks to Ukraine as soon as possible
Earlier on Jan. 24, The Wall Street Journal reported Washington is leaning towards supplying Ukraine with a “significant” quantity of Abrams M1 main battle tanks, with the corresponding announcement expected within days.
Defense ministers of Ukraine’s international partners gathered at the U.S. Air Force Ramstein base in Germany on Jan. 20, discussing the ongoing and future efforts to equip Kyiv’s troops with modern weapons.
Following the summit, Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov said that countries have achieved “a positive breakthrough” regarding the Leopard-2 tanks. He explained that the meeting participants agreed that countries with Leopard 2s in service could begin training Ukrainian tank crews.
Read also: US, Germany stuck in standoff over sending tanks to Ukraine — media reports
Following numerous Ukrainian requests, Poland has decided to transfer German-made Leopard main battle tanks to Ukraine, Polish President Andrzej Duda said during his visit to Lviv, Ukraine, on Jan. 11, where he met with his Ukrainian and Lithuanian counterparts, Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Gitanas Nauseda.
Earlier in January, UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak decided to provide Ukraine with 14 Challenger 2 tanks, making the United Kingdom the first Western country to equip Kyiv with modern heavy tanks.
Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine
A look at Leopard 2 tanks that could soon be sent to Ukraine
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz speaks to soldiers in front of a Leopard 2 main battle tank after the Army's training and instruction exercise in Ostenholz, Germany, Monday, oct. 17, 2022. Germany has become one of Ukraine's leading weapons suppliers in the 11 months since Russia's invasion. The debate among allies about the merits of sending battle tanks to Ukraine has focused the spotlight relentlessly on Germany, whose Leopard 2 tank is used by many other countries and has long been sought by Kyiv. (Moritz Frankenberg/dpa via AP, FILE)
JAMEY KEATEN and FRANK JORDANS
Mon, January 23, 2023
GENEVA (AP) — Following intense pressure from its allies, Germany appears to be inching toward approving deliveries of high-tech Leopard 2 main battle tanks that Ukraine and its biggest Western backers hope will boost Kyiv’s fight against Russian invaders.
Over the weekend, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said Berlin would not get in the way if Poland — arguably Ukraine's most vocal supporter among European Union neighbors — wants to ship Leopard 2 tanks from its arsenal across the border into Ukraine. And Germany is not ruling out supplying such tanks to Ukraine itself, cautioning however that the implications of such a step need to be carefully weighed.
Here's a look at what those tanks might mean for Ukraine's defense against Russian forces — and hopes for driving them out.
WHAT IS THE LEOPARD 2?
Germany's Krauss-Maffei Wegmann, the manufacturer of the Leopard 2, touts it as “the world's leading battle tank" that for nearly a half-century has combined aspects of firepower, protection, speed and maneuverability, making it adaptable to many types of combat situations.
The 55-ton tank has a crew of four and a range of about 500 kilometers (310 miles), and top speeds of about 68 kilometers per hour (about 42 mph). Now with four main variants, its earliest version first came into service in 1979. Its main weapon is a 120mm smooth bore gun, and it has a fully-digital fire-control system.
HOW MANY COULD BE SENT TO UKRAINE?
One big appeal of the German-made tanks are their sheer number: More than 2,000 have been deployed in over a dozen European countries and Canada. Overall, Krauss-Maffei Wegmann says over 3,500 units have been supplied to 19 countries.
Rheinmetall AG, a German defense contractor that makes the 120mm smoothbore gun on the Leopard 2, says the tank has been deployed by “more nations than any other."
According to a recent analysis by the International Institute for Strategic Studies, a London-based global think tank, some 350 Leopard 2s — in different versions — have been sent to Greece, and Poland has about 250 of varying types. Finland has 200 in operation or in storage.
For Ukraine's war against Russia, “it is believed that for the Leopard 2 tanks to have any significant effect on the fighting, around 100 tanks would be required,” the International Institute for Strategic Studies analysts wrote.
Ukraine's defense minister wants 300 tanks, and some European Union leaders support him on that.
“We need a fleet of 300 tanks,” Luxembourg’s Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn said Monday in Brussels, alluding to the wide deployment of Leopards across Europe and the need for “synchronous” weaponry — that can operate smoothly together.
Getting Leopards into Ukrainian hands isn't as easy as rolling them across the border from friends farther West in Europe. The International Institute for Strategic Studies estimates that three to six weeks of training would be needed for operating crews and support staff to reach basic proficiency.
Ralf Raths, director of the Panzer Museum in Munster, Germany, said experienced Ukrainian tank crews would likely be able to learn to use the Leopard 2 fairly quickly, and training could be shortened to focus on essential knowledge.
“Do you really have to exploit 100% of the potential or is it enough to utilize 80% in half the time? Ukrainians will certainly vote for option B,” he said.
WHAT DIFFERENCE WOULD IT MAKE TO THE WAR?
Yohann Michel, a research analyst for defense and military affairs at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, said such tanks could allow Ukraine to go onto the offensive in the 11-month-old conflict that has been stalemated for months following two key Ukrainian counteroffensives that recaptured areas occupied by Russian forces for months in the northeast and south.
“In this type of conflict, it's just not possible to carry out large-scale offensives without the full variety of armored combat equipment and armored vehicles, and tanks are a part of that," he said. In addition to Main Battle Tanks, or MBTs, like the Leopard 2, others include infantry fighting vehicles and armored personnel carriers.
Western deliveries of Leopard 2s could help equip Ukraine with needed high-caliber munitions to replace its own dwindling Soviet-era stockpiles, opening a new avenue for supplies of Western firepower to get to Ukraine, he said.
Raths noted that the Leopard 2 and similar Western tanks are more agile than T-models used by Russia, which can't reverse at speed, for example.
“Imagine a boxer who cannot move freely in the ring, but only in one direction,” he said. “The other boxer, who can move in all directions, has a big advantage and that it is the case with the Leopards.”
Still, even Western MBTs are vulnerable to aerial attacks, or anti-tank infantry while in forests and urban areas, highlighting the importance of anti-aircraft and reconnaissance support, said Raths.
With similar numbers of tanks on both sides, Leopards 2 and similar tanks could give Ukraine the upper hand, especially given the poor tactical performance of Russian troops during the war, he said.
“The Ukrainians shine through creative, dynamic and often very clean warfare,” Raths said. “So it could well be that if Ukraine’s operational offensive were to begin, the Russians would have real problems countering it.”
Niklas Masuhr, a researcher at the Center for Security Studies at Switzerland’s federal polytechnic university ETHZ, based in Zurich, cautioned that the addition of Leopards to the battlefield alone wouldn’t be “a game changer or a war-winning technology, anything like that.”
“You can’t just deploy a bunch of main battle tanks and assume they will win,” he said. “They’re very valuable, but you still need to use them in the correct way and integrate them with all the other military tools that you have at your disposal,” such as infantry, artillery, air defense, combat engineers and helicopters.
WHY DOESN'T UKRAINE HAVE LEOPARDS ALREADY?
Germany has final say about whether Leopard 2s can be delivered — even from other countries' arsenals — and has been reticent about anyone shipping them to Ukraine.
More-hawkish Western allies have been stepping up the pressure on Germany, but the United States has also refused to send its powerful M1 Abrams tanks.
The United States announced an upcoming new package of military aid that is expected to include nearly 100 Stryker combat vehicles and at least 50 Bradley armored vehicles — but not the Abrams, which U.S. officials say has complex maintenance needs and may not be the best fit.
Allies and military analysts say the Leopard 2 is diesel-powered — not driven by jet fuel that powers the M1 Abrams — and is easier to operate than the big U.S. tanks, and thus has shorter training times.
Britain this month announced it will send Challenger 2 tanks to Ukraine, and the Czech Republic and Poland have provided Soviet-era T-72 tanks to Ukrainian forces. French President Emmanuel Macron said Sunday that he had asked his defense minister to “work on” the idea of sending some of France’s Leclerc battle tanks to Ukraine.
Even if modern western MBTs are superior to their Russian counterparts, donor countries supplying them need to prepare for losses, Raths said.
The Leopard 2 “is an offensive weapon that will be thrown into high-intensity battles," he said. "Vehicles will be destroyed, and people will die in these tanks.”
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Jordans reported from Berlin.
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