“Game changer in this war”
Pistorius: First Leopard tanks in Ukraine in three months
01/25/2023, 2:20 p.m
After much hesitation, Germany is now supplying Ukraine with Leopard main battle tanks. The first units could arrive in Ukraine in as little as three months. The training of Ukrainian soldiers is also to be started in the near future.
According to Defense Minister Boris Pistorius, Germany can provide Ukraine with the first Leopard main battle tanks in about three months. The Bundeswehr will now “very quickly” start training Ukrainian soldiers on the tank and clarifying supply routes, Pistorius said after a meeting of the Bundestag Defense Committee in Berlin. Pistorius described the decision to deliver the main battle tanks as “historic because it was coordinated internationally and because it happened in a highly explosive situation in Ukraine”.
The Austrian Colonel Markus Reisner had told ntv.de that the goal of the training also determines the duration. “If the Ukrainians are only trying to enable the soldiers to ‘operate’ the Leopard as a single shooter, then a few weeks can be enough. After all, the crew isn’t starting from scratch, the soldiers have already used Soviet systems.” So you would have to familiarize yourself with the special features of the Leopard. However, the training lasts longer, according to Reisner eight to twelve weeks, if the use in combination with other weapon systems is also practiced. Only then do you really get to know the strengths and weaknesses of a system.
Tank deliveries “no reason to celebrate”
Pistorius described the Leopard 2 as an important ‘game changer, possibly in this war or in this phase of the war.” As a first step, Germany will make relatively new Leopard tanks available from the Bundeswehr stocks in order to, together with partners, send a first battalion to the To be able to deliver to Ukraine. In a second step, a second battalion should then be formed from older Leopard tanks. This will “take a little longer,” said Pistorius. “The aim is to be able to deliver as quickly as possible,” said the minister. Pistorius also announced further talks with partners about the planned deliveries.Depending on the definition, a battalion comprises several dozen tanks, usually 44.Germany had announced that it would deliver a company consisting of 14 Leopard 2 A6s.
Pistorius named Poland, Canada, Spain and Portugal as other supplier countries. He also held out the prospect of talks with the armaments industry about “faster replenishment”. “That will be the challenge for the next few years,” he added. At the same time, the minister made it clear: “We will not become a war party.” The delivery of the main battle tanks is “no reason to celebrate, even if some might want to do that”. He added: “Never can a decision about such things be a highly gratifying one – it is a necessary one.”