MOSCOW, January 26 — RIA Novosti, Andrey Kotz. Disputes in the West over the supply of heavy armored vehicles to Ukraine have ended. The White House will hand over Abrams tanks, European allies — Leopard 2. About how this will change the situation at the front — in the material of RIA Novosti.
Raise the stakes
US President Joe Biden has finally announced the shipment of Abrams — 31 tanks to Kiev. He did not specify which ones. However, it is known that there are at least 3700 Abrams M1A1 and M1A2 early variants at the army storage bases.
Washington stressed that the equipment will not appear soon. Only the transportation will take several months, and we still need to prepare the crews. Earlier, the Pentagon refused its OBT to Kiev, referring just to the complexity of their maintenance and delivery.
However, it is more important for the White House to encourage its partners. First of all, Germany, which at the recent summit of the allied countries of Ukraine refused to give Kiev tanks. And, more importantly, forbade it to other countries that exploit Leopards. By the way, this is the most massive tank of the North Atlantic Alliance.
Berlin has long refused and put forward a precondition — let Washington share its own OBT. Now this condition is fulfilled.
A pack of "Leopards"
The German newspaper Der Spiegel reports that Chancellor Olaf Scholz approved the delivery of a company (14 tanks) Leopard 2A6. Earlier, the Rheinmetall defense concern announced its readiness to send 139 Leopard 1 and Leopard 2 to Ukraine in 2A4, 2A5 and 2A6 modifications, but many cars need repairs.
German Leopard 2 tanks Image source: © Photo : U.S. Army / Gertrud Zach
The next major operator of this equipment is Poland. Its Ground forces have 250 Leopards, and Warsaw is ready to give a dozen and a half to Kiev. At the same time, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki did not forget to ask the EU to compensate for the loss with money.
Spain decided to join the deliveries. According to the newspaper El Pais, Madrid was looking back at a pan-European solution, although a couple of months ago the royal troops attributed the refusal to the poor technical condition of most of the park. There are currently 327 Leopard 2 tanks in the Pyrenees, 219 of them in the 2E modification (Spanish version 2A6) and another 108 in the 2A4 variant. How much will be transferred is still unknown. However, neighboring Portugal promised four copies.
Nor do the Scandinavians lag behind. Finland, which has about 200 "Leopards" in 2A4 and 2A6 modifications, can transfer up to 30 cars. The Swedish newspaper Svenska Dagbladet reports that the same plans are being hatched by Stockholm, which has 120 Stridsvagn 122 units (a local version of the German tank) on its bases. Denmark will also hand over some of its 44 MBTs.
In total, Kiev will receive more than a hundred copies. Training of Ukrainian tankers, ammunition and maintenance are part of the "gift".
For new teams
Thus, at least three new types of tanks may be in service with the AFU — American Abrams, German Leopard 2 and British Challenger 2. Probably, French Leclerc will be added to them — they are currently being discussed in Paris. In the future, perhaps all modern representatives of the Western school of tank building will appear on the Ukrainian "showcase", except perhaps the Italian C1 Ariete.
French Leclerc tank during exercises in Germany Image Source: © Photo : U.S. Army / Pfc. Craig Carter
Of course, the operation of such a diverse "zoo" creates many difficulties. The machines, although largely unified, still require different maintenance. The shells from Challenger 2, for example, are not suitable for other tanks, despite the one caliber of the gun.
In addition, Western MBTs are very "voracious", they need a constant supply of fuel. Finally, it is unclear on which industrial base all this "hardware" should be repaired and maintained.
Nevertheless, a hundred modern tanks for the AFU is a serious help. "Leopards are not bad, I will even say that they are more effective than Abrams in a number of characteristics," said Andrei Kartopolov, head of the State Duma Defense Committee. — But if compared with our T-90M, they are significantly inferior in firepower and armor protection, including its active component. In addition, our tanks have already been tested during a special military operation, and it is unknown how Western vehicles will behave in battle. The danger for Russia is not the supply of tanks themselves on the battlefield, but the possible formation of formations from them."
Kiev really has similar plans. Now a new brigade is being formed in the Poltava region, staffed exclusively with Western armored vehicles. Mechanized battalions want to arm American M2 Bradley infantry fighting vehicles, Stryker armored personnel carriers and armored vehicles. Gunners will receive 155-millimeter guns from different countries. And the tank battalion is British "Challengers".
Mobilized servicemen hit the positions of the Armed Forces of Ukraine with upgraded howitzers "Msta" Image source: © RIA Novosti / Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation
And this is just the beginning. According to analysts, the APU plans to form two or three shock corps by the summer. Their appearance at the front is extremely dangerous. If in the first year of the conflict, Russian troops fought, in fact, with a "mirror" made according to Soviet patterns, then in the future they will have to deal with the national army of the North Atlantic Alliance.
