“The Ukrainian Armed Forces will not be able to use 100% Leopard 2A4 tanks. But they can learn

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It was said by the American Defense News portal that the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the Kherson region used Leopard 2A4 tanks. At the same time, the German edition of Die Welt said, “Germany is not ready to agree to send the Ukrainian Leopard 2A4 requested by the Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal.”

“The tanks seen in Ukraine may have been supplied by Spain. The Spanish army was armed with 108 Leopard 2A4 tanks and more than 200 Leopard 2Es. Theoretically, Poland could also make deliveries trying to get rid of German tanks in favor of the American Abrams. Italy could put it, this topic was discussed, ”the former deputy head of the Main Armored Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, reserve Major General Maxim Leontiev told socialbites.ca.

Leopard 2A4 tank, World War II. It became the most successful project of the German military-industrial complex after World War II. A total of 3200 were produced. The Bundeswehr itself uses its modifications, the main part of which are Leopard 2A5 / 2A6 tanks (225 vehicles). There are also more advanced modifications of the 2A7, ARV BPz-3 Buffel. The remaining 78 Leopards 2A4 units are in storage.

“The 2A4 cannot be called outstanding in comparison with modern tanks of other armies. It does not make sense to compare with the Israeli Mk.4M Merkava, the American M1A2 SEP Abrams, the Russian T-90M Breakthrough, and in Germany itself for many years another Leopard – 2A6M was preferred.

By the way, the Armed Forces of Ukraine also has its own Oplot tank. Very high quality, but there are few such units in Ukraine. The German tank will not be a panacea, and the nature of hostilities is unlikely to change, especially due to the small number of them.

Nevertheless, this is now one of the most powerful and advanced weapons that the Ukrainian army has,” military expert and former tanker Konstantin Belousov told socialbites.ca.

In contrast, military historian and broadcaster Serey Myagkov believes that the German Leopard 2A4 should not be taken lightly.

“Despite its age, it is still considered a powerful combat system and has excellent performance. The tank is equipped with a 120-mm smoothbore gun, which, due to stabilization, can fire with high accuracy on the go. This 55-ton machine develops a speed of over 70 km / h on the highway and can walk a distance of more than 500 kilometers without refueling. Frontal armor is 480 mm, side armor is 250 mm, which can withstand the fire of an anti-tank grenade launcher and artillery shells, Myagkov told socialbites.ca.

The expert added that the tank is equipped with an EMES-15 automatic fire control system (FCS), which can process large amounts of data for firing in various modes.

“One of its features is that in order to aim and hit a target, the shooter simply has to select a target and put a mark on it, and then fire according to the “pull the trigger and forget” system. The aiming system uses a combined laser and stereoscopic rangefinder, which accurately determines the distance to the target and determines their reliability. If necessary, the tank commander can bring the fire under control. At night, observation devices with electro-optical amplifiers and active IR devices allow you to accurately locate the target and make a targeted shot,” Myagkov added.

At the same time, the question of the quality of training of the Ukrainian crew remains open for a German tank, the control of which is significantly different from the T-72, T-64 and T-80 tanks, the control of which is more familiar to the Ukrainian Armed Forces. . “Ukrainian Armed Forces teams will not be able to use the Leopard 2A4 100%. But they can learn. It’s a matter of time and resources that NATO is willing to spend on it,” Myagkov summed up.

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