The other day, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki announced that his country is considering the possibility of supplying Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine only to improve the combat capabilities of the armored formations of the Armed Forces (the specific number of vehicles has not yet been named). Ukrainian Forces. However, Morawiecki recently stressed that the transfer of such weapons should be part of a larger allied effort.
“We are in talks with Polish President Andrzej Duda that will lead to a broader coalition of states that can provide Ukraine with such heavy and advanced weapons,” Morawiecki said three days ago. This was reported by the Rzeczpospolita newspaper. “Negotiations are ongoing. I spoke to German Chancellor Olaf Scholz about this in Brussels a few weeks ago, and I believe we will be able to learn more about it in the next few days,” Mateusz Morawiecki added at the time.
The Polish prime minister’s statement followed a report in The Wall Street Journal that quoted an unnamed senior Polish diplomat as saying that Poland is considering Ukraine’s request to donate Leopard 2 tanks. Ukrainian army.
In the early 2000s, Germany supplied Poland with Leopard 2 tanks formerly used by the Bundeswehr. Currently, the Polish armed forces use about 247 Leopard 2 tanks of various variants. These include the Leopard 2A4 and 2A5 tanks, as well as the Leopard 2PL tanks, which were upgraded by the Polish defense industry in cooperation with the German concern Rheinmetall.
In the coming years, Poland plans to create its own modern tank fleet based on the American M1A2 Abrams and South Korean K2 tanks, but at the moment the armored formations of the Polish Army are mainly based on the Leopard 2.
As for Germany’s position, official Berlin must approve all deliveries of German-made weapons, even years after the transfer of German weapons to partners. In particular, as of January 9, the German government had not yet received a request to transfer the Leopard 2 from Poland. This was previously reported in Berlin by spokesperson Steffen Hebestrait.
But events are developing rapidly. It is quite possible that intense fighting near Soledar and Bakhmut affected their course. As soon as Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki announced today the negotiations on the possible transfer of the Leopard 2 tanks, Polish President Andrzej Duda announced the transfer of tanks at a meeting with Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky (in the presence of Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda). A company to the armored units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Leopard 2.
The Polish president said that Ukraine “will be given a division of Leopard tanks as part of an international coalition”. According to him, in order for this decision to be implemented, a number of official requirements must be met and approvals must be obtained. Andrzej Duda’s speech was broadcast on Polish TV. Apparently, in Berlin (and not only in Berlin) they still gave approval for the transfer of German tanks to Kiev. It is unlikely that Polish President Andrzej Duda would take such a step without the approval of Olaf Scholz and Joe Biden.
The route is certainly not much. According to the Russian states, this is only 10 vehicles (three platoons of three tanks each, plus the company commander’s vehicle). There are 14 tanks in a tank company in the armed forces of NATO member states. As we can see, the difference is not fundamental. Another thing is more important here – a kind of psychological barrier has been overcome, which until recently prevented the transfer of heavy armored combat vehicles of Western production to the Ukrainian armed forces.
The German main battle tank Leopard 2 was adopted by the Bundeswehr in the late 1970s and still remains the basis of the armored forces of a number of NATO countries and their allies. Due to continuous upgrades, the features of the machine are kept at a very high level.
The Bundeswehr (of varying readiness) is equipped with 2125 Leopard 2 tanks, the Netherlands – 445, Switzerland – 380, Spain – 219, Greece – 170, Sweden – 120, Qatar – 62, Hungary – 44. A total of 3563 such war machines.
The strengths of the German machine include the fire control system. It processes large amounts of data to shoot in a variety of ways. To aim and then aim at the target, the shooter only needs to select the appropriate object and place a mark on it. The crew of Leopard 2 is able to detect targets camouflaged with a special sensor that reacts to the thermal radiation of enemy objects.
There is reason to believe that the first Leopard 2 tank company in the Armed Forces of Ukraine will be used as a training unit for the retraining of Ukrainian tankers. Most likely, there will also be repair facilities in Poland to initially service German tanks. Leopard 2 vehicles will most likely go to the front from Germany and other NATO member countries.
Most likely, the transfer of Western-made main battle tanks such as the M1 Abrams, Leopard 2 and Challenger 2 to the Ukrainian Armed Forces will be officially announced at the Ramstein format meeting of the Contact Group for the Defense of Ukraine. It will be held on January 20, 2023. The psychological barrier in this matter has been overcome, now the only thing is the number of military vehicles transferred to Ukraine.
Source: Gazeta
Barbara Dickson is a seasoned writer for “Social Bites”. She keeps readers informed on the latest news and trends, providing in-depth coverage and analysis on a variety of topics.