TSAMTO, January 31. The Ministry of Defense of Spain has decided which Leopard tanks from the Spanish Armed Forces will be delivered as aid to Ukraine. As a result, the choice fell on the Leopard-2A4 MBT, which have been in storage for 10 years by logistics support group No. 41, located in the Zaragoza area.
As reported by Infodefensa.com On January 26, Defense Minister Margarita Robles announced that the ministry was contacting industry to initiate the tank restoration process. According to her, there is a batch of Leopard-2A4 in Zaragoza, which have not been used for a long time and it is necessary to find out which of them can be brought into a condition suitable for combat use.
Thus, the Ministry of Defense currently excludes two other proposed delivery options: modern Leopard-2E and Leopard-2A4 from Ceuta and Melilla.
According to El Heraldo, M. Robles did not provide more detailed information about the delivery dates and the number of MBT planned for repair. Nevertheless, according to sources in the Armed Forces, it will take at least three months to prepare 12 of the 53 vehicles stationed in Zaragoza. Other sources report 20 Leopard-2A4S that can be recovered.
On January 26, M. Robles held talks with German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius and representatives of other countries armed with the Leopard MBT to coordinate the number of tanks sent to the AFU and train their crews.
M. Robles made it clear that there is a concept of providing services jointly, and not "individually by country". At the official request of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, Spain also offered to train Ukrainian crews in the country. The Ministry of Defense has already developed a course lasting from two to two and a half months to train up to 54 servicemen to man the Leopard company.
As you know, 53 out of 108 Leopard-2A4S have been stored at the Casetas landfill in the Zaragoza area for more than ten years, which were leased from Germany in 1998 and then bought back in 2006 for 17 million euros. The equipment is in different technical condition. Earlier, the minister said about the "deplorable condition" of some tanks and the impossibility of sending them to Ukraine. It is assumed that about 20 Leopard-2A4 MBT can be delivered to the APU after restoration, and the rest will require deeper refinement or may even be "disassembled" for spare parts due to poor condition.