Why Ukraine wants Leopard 2 tanks : NPR

A German Leopard 2 battle tank pictured throughout a NATO coaching train in Lithuania final October.

Sean Gallup/Getty Photos

cover caption

toggle caption

Sean Gallup/Getty Photos

A German Leopard 2 battle tank pictured throughout a NATO coaching train in Lithuania final October.

Sean Gallup/Getty Photos

Even because the U.S. and its NATO allies have introduced one other bundle of navy support to Ukraine, stuffed with navy autos, air protection programs, rockets and missiles, a notable omission is the one piece of apparatus that has come to dominate current talks: tanks.

For months, Ukrainian officers have pressed the West for tons of of contemporary battle tanks like these made by the U.S. and Germany.

“I can thanks tons of of occasions, and it is going to be completely simply and honest, given all that we’ve already achieved,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy mentioned at this week’s assembly of protection officers in Ramstein, Germany.

“However tons of of ‘thanks’ should not tons of of tanks,” he mentioned.

Current debate has centered on the Leopard 2, a German-made battle tank operated by about 20 international locations worldwide, together with greater than a dozen NATO members.

Germany has come underneath rising stress to supply some to Ukraine — or to permit different international locations, like Poland, to ship theirs.

Up to now, that hasn’t occurred. “We can’t say right now when a choice will come and what it’ll seem like,” German Protection Minister Boris Pistorius mentioned Friday.

What’s the Leopard 2?

The German-made Leopard 2 is among the most well-reputed battle tanks on the planet, maybe second solely to the U.S.-made M1 Abrams tank, navy arms specialists mentioned.

The Leopard 2 was initially designed within the Seventies for the West German military in response to Soviet threats in the course of the Chilly Battle. They’re constructed to maneuver rapidly over quite a lot of terrain and confront enemy armor — just like the tanks Russia has been utilizing on the bottom in Ukraine for the reason that first days of its invasion final yr.

Every tank boasts a 44- or 55-caliber 120-mm fundamental gun and a 1,500-horsepower engine that permits it to maneuver as quick as 44 mph, in response to Krauss-Maffei Wegmann, the German protection firm that manufactures the tank. Some 60 tons of armor shield their crews from return hearth.

Among the many international locations that function the Leopard 2 is Poland, which has pledged to ship 14 Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine however should await Germany’s approval to take action.

Why are tanks essential to Ukraine’s battle effort?

Since Russia started its invasion of Ukraine final February, tanks have been outstanding on the battlefield.

For its half, Ukraine has principally relied on Soviet-era T-72 tanks. The West has already equipped different armored autos and pledged to ship nonetheless extra, together with Bradley preventing autos and Stryker fight autos from the U.S., and a newly introduced cargo of Challenger 2 tanks from the U.Ok.

However none represents the mix of accuracy, firepower and mobility of the trendy battle tanks made by Germany and the U.S. Ukrainian officers have mentioned that such tanks could possibly be the important thing to a speedy Ukrainian victory — maybe even this yr.

That is a rosier image than the one painted by Western navy specialists.

“There isn’t a silver bullet on the market. There isn’t a one factor that is simply going to fully change the entire battle,” mentioned retired U.S. Military Lt. Gen. Ben Hodges.

Nonetheless, Western tanks may play a task this spring, when each Russia and Ukraine are extensively anticipated to launch renewed efforts within the battle, he mentioned.

Final month, the U.S. introduced that it might practice massive items of Ukrainian troopers in mixed arms techniques, through which large-scale navy operations use completely different sorts of weaponry collectively, together with plane, artillery and armor (like tanks).

“The flexibility for us to coach the Ukrainians to conduct these very advanced maneuvers is basically key for them constructing fight functionality as they push ahead with their offensive,” mentioned Raphael Cohen, a senior political scientist on the RAND Company, in an interview with NPR earlier this month.

How may Ukraine deploy Western tanks?

Russia’s main victory of the battle up to now has been its management of Ukrainian territory between the Donbas and Crimea. Russia has managed Crimea since illegally annexing it in 2014, however earlier than the invasion final yr, Crimea’s solely connection to Russia was an extended street and rail bridge. In seizing Mariupol and the land round it, Russian forces basically established a land bridge from Russia and the Donbas area of Ukraine to Crimea.

That territory could possibly be the setting of a brand new Ukrainian counteroffensive, mentioned Hodges, the retired lieutenant normal. “The Ukrainians know that the decisive terrain is Crimea,” he mentioned.

With tanks from the West, Ukraine may create an armored brigade that would function “the spearhead of a drive that would break via these Russian defenses down in the direction of Mariupol,” Hodges mentioned. “The aim is to proceed the isolation of Crimea from the whole lot else.”

Extra typically, he mentioned, tanks can enable for more practical use of infantry. In open terrain, tanks can lead, permitting infantry to observe safely. In city or wooded areas, infantry can transfer in first, stopping the enemy from hiding and putting with hid anti-tank weaponry.

What is the holdup?

Germany has frequently delayed a choice in regards to the Leopard 2s. As a result of it makes the tanks, its approval is required for these allies, like Poland, to re-export them elsewhere.

Ukraine’s leaders had hoped for an announcement Friday, however their wait will proceed after German officers declined to decide on the Ramstein assembly.

On Friday, Pistorius, the German protection minister, mentioned that officers have been nonetheless evaluating the professionals and cons of sending the tanks. “I’m very certain there can be a choice within the quick time period,” he added.

The U.S. has additionally been reluctant to ship M1 Abrams tanks, which protection officers argue should not as sensible for the Ukrainian battleground because the Leopard 2s, that are lighter than newer variants of the Abrams and are extra simply maintained.

“The upkeep and the excessive price that it might take to take care of an Abrams — it simply would not make sense to supply that to the Ukrainians at this second,” Pentagon spokesperson Sabrina Singh mentioned at a Thursday briefing.

One other downside with the Abrams is much less gas environment friendly than the Leopard 2, which is designed to make use of diesel gas — and diesel is extra available in Ukraine’s wartime provide chains.

Extra reporting by NPR’s Greg Myre.