Old, used, discarded
When it comes to heavy weapons, Ukraine only gets B-stock
By Michael Bauer
04/23/2022, 11:13 am
For about two months, Ukraine has been demanding military support against the Russian invasion. Heavy weapons are now to be delivered via detours. But the possibilities are limited. The tanks and artillery do not bring a technological advantage.
Ukraine keeps repeating its demand for heavy weapons in the war against Russia. Western allies hesitate, including Germany. An exchange of rings among the EU states is now intended to bring heavy weapons systems to Ukraine. New or modern tanks, tracked vehicles or artillery are not among them. For the Ukraine there is actually only the B-goods from the weapons shelf. There are mutliple reasons for this.
Although the federal government is providing Ukraine with 1.4 billion euros to buy from German armaments companies, it is unlikely to fulfill the wishes of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Selenksky. According to information from the “Bild” newspaper in mid-March, Ukraine’s original “needs list” still included heavy weapon systems such as the Leopard-2 main battle tank, the Marder and Puma armored personnel carriers and the Boxer and Fuchs armored personnel carriers “.
The “Panzerhaubitze 2000” is said to have been on the list first. By order of the Chancellery, the Federal Ministry of Defense has removed all heavy weapons from a so-called industrial list of German weapon manufacturers. Producing new weapon systems of this kind especially for Ukraine is not even possible.
Years can pass before new types of tanks like the “Puma” are built.
(Photo: KMW)
The machinery of the defense industry is too complex to simply ramp up production. “It’s not assembly line work like in the auto industry,” said a spokesman for Krauss-Maffei Wegman (KMW) ntv.de. The production of military vehicles is more like a craft and is heavily dependent on suppliers. The infantry fighting vehicle “Puma” alone has around 400 suppliers. German armaments companies cannot produce anything on Halde. Materials such as armored steel are only procured after the order has been placed. This is what the War Weapons Control Act provides.
Accordingly, it takes time until the production of a weapon system has started. While armaments expert Max Mutschler in an interview with ntv.de oscillated between weeks and months when it came to production, in reality the gears turn even more slowly. In the case of tracked vehicles and tanks, the duration is two to three years, after which four to six vehicles can be manufactured per month, according to the KMW spokesman.
The training would be quicker with the “Leopard 1”, for example. A tank type that even the Bundeswehr has not used for almost twenty years. German armaments manufacturer Rheinmetall stressed that Ukrainian soldiers could be trained for the tank within a few days. According to Rheinmetall, 50 Leopard tanks are ready but need to be repaired. “The first Leopard 1 could be delivered in six weeks,” CEO Armin Papperger told the “Handelsblatt”. However, it could take up to three months for all tanks to reach Ukraine. That wouldn’t be quick help either.
It remains only to exchange rings
All that remains is the exchange of rings between the individual EU and NATO countries in order to quickly get tanks and artillery into Ukraine. T-72 main battle tanks developed in the Soviet Union are to come from Slovenia, and Germany is topping up the Slovenian stock with the “Marder” infantry fighting vehicle and the “Fuchs” wheeled armored vehicle. Great Britain also wants to take an almost identical step. London is studying the possibility of “sending tanks to Poland,” while Warsaw is in turn supplying Kyiv with T-72 tanks, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said.
With the weapons deliveries from the allies, Ukraine is only replenishing its own stock. In any case, there is no technological advantage with heavy weapon systems. In the Donbass, the tank models are mostly the same, because the Russian army is also still operating in Ukraine with technology from the 1970s.