The German armaments group Rheinmetall has pointed out that a delivery of repaired Leopard main battle tanks from its stocks to Ukraine will take time.
“Even if the decision is made tomorrow that we can send our Leopard tanks to Kyiv, delivery will take until the beginning of next year,” said CEO Armin Papperger of “Bild am Sonntag”.
Rheinmetall has 22 Leopard 2 vehicles and 88 of the older Leopard 1 model, the newspaper reported, citing Papperger. The Rheinmetall boss said that the repair of the decommissioned battle tanks would take “almost a year”. “The vehicles are not only repainted, but have to be converted for a war effort. They are completely dismantled and then rebuilt.” Rheinmetall cannot repair the tanks without an order because the costs are several hundred million euros. “Rheinmetall cannot pre-finance that,” said Papperger.
The pressure on the federal government to deliver Leopard main battle tanks to Ukraine had increased recently. On Wednesday, Poland agreed to let Ukraine, together with allies, have Leopard 2 main battle tanks to use in defense against Russia. Finland showed cautious readiness for delivery on Thursday. Germany plays a key role in the debate because the tanks were developed in Germany. As a rule, the transfer of armaments from German production to third parties must be approved.
CSU calls for quick action
The defense policy spokesman for the Union faction Florian Hahn accuses the federal government of acting too slowly. “Scholz must not hesitate any longer, but must get both Leopard 1 and Leopard 2 on the way,” said the CSU politician to the “Augsburger Allgemeine”. “Both models can help the Ukrainian armed forces in the fight against the mostly older Russian tanks.”
