The Ukrainian armed forces received 18 modern Leopard 2A6 main battle tanks from Germany to repel the Russian attack on their country. This was confirmed by Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) on Monday in Rotterdam at a press conference with Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte. “We delivered as announced,” said Scholz.
In mid-March, the tank crews had completed their training on the Leopard with a skirmish. As with other weapon systems, government agencies had not publicly announced the transport of the tanks for reasons of secrecy and security. The news magazine “Spiegel” first reported on the arrival of the tanks.
On January 25, after lengthy domestic political wrangling, the federal government announced the goal of “quickly assembling two tank battalions with Leopard 2 tanks for Ukraine.” In Ukraine, these are usually equipped with 31 tanks each. The main participants in the initiative are Poland, Norway, Canada and Spain. Poland delivered the first four Western main battle tanks of the older Leopard 2A4 type to Ukraine in February. Germany provides the Ukraine with 18 Leopard 2A6, Portugal another 3 of the weapon systems.
Experts firmly believe that the Leopard 2 is clearly superior in combat against Russian armored troops. One reason is that it has a stabilized weapon system and can therefore fire while driving, but the T-72, which is often used by the Russian armed forces, has to stand still for the shot.
At the end of their training, the Ukrainian crews practiced attacking and retreating from an enemy at the Bergen military training area in Lower Saxony. The aim of the training was “that these forces are able to fight completely independently with this very modern, actually the most modern main battle tank that we have to offer,” Brigadier General Björn Schulz, commander of the Bundeswehr Armored Forces School, explained there. Between 82 and 85 percent of the target displays were destroyed during the exercises. The German trainers rated this as very good.
“The Ukrainians are facing the most dangerous phase of the war,” declared French Vice-Admiral Hervé Bléjean, Director General of the EU training mission, who had traveled to Bergen. “If they can use better tanks like the Leopard, they will be able to break through and counterattack.”
Military experts have repeatedly pointed to the central role that main battle tanks and their interaction with infantry fighting vehicles play in retaking occupied territories. Four soldiers are the crew of the Leopard 2, from which they only fight “mounted”, i.e. from the vehicle: the driver, a gunner, a loader and the commander. With superior firepower and its fire control system, the Leopard is “capable of dueling” in direct confrontation with the enemy on sight.
