There is a kind of stalemate in Ukrainian battlefield.
But this could change as Ukraine is about to get it hands on western tanks.
The country is on its way to receive 3 types of Western Main Battle Tanks - Abrams for the US,
Challenger 2 from Britain and Leopard 2 from Germany.
31 Abrams, 14 Challenger 2 and 14 Leopard 2 have been committed
by the US, Britain and Germany respectively.
While there are lots of debate on which one is the best, there are some aspects
due to which Leopard 2 has been really sought after by the besieged nation.
In this video Defense Updates analyzes why Leopard 2 is best suited for Ukraine?
Let’s get started
Leopard 2 has been exported to many European nations.
There are a significant number of Leopard 2 tanks
from several countries that could be swiftly transferred.
In a note published in September, the European Council on Foreign Relations called on Western
nations to support a plan to send Leopard 2s to Ukraine, saying that the “more that
countries donate tanks, the easier it will be to share the burden of giving them away.”
Poland welcomed the German decision to allow the transfer of Leopard 2
tanks to Ukraine with the Polish government reportedly preparing
to transfer 14 Leopards to Ukraine from a total Polish stock of 250.
Reuters reported, a spokesperson for German arms group Rheinmetall told local media that
the company could deliver 139 Leopard battle tanks to Ukraine if required,
So, Ukraine could potentially get the German tanks from diverse sources.
Importantly, rather than sending Ukraine tanks from its own stocks,
as it has done with previous weapons, the U.S. has said it is buying the Abrams from the industry.
The tanks are is assembled at a government-owned,
General Dynamics-operated plant in Lima, Ohio and the facility can produce 12 tanks
per month but the line is now full of new tank orders for Taiwan and Poland.
Also to note here is that, being near Ukraine and with a direct land connection,
the logistical challenges of the transfer of Leopard 2 will be much less.
So, we can say that Leopard 2 has an advantage.
Leopard 2 & Abrams uses has the same Rheinmetall 120 mm
L/55 smoothbore gun that uses standard NATO 120mm ammunition.
This means Ukraine will be able to access a large pool of suppliers to acquire the ammo.
Uniquely among NATO main battle tank guns, the L30A1 in Challenger 2 is rifled,
because the British Army continues to place a premium on the use of high-explosive squash head
(HESH) rounds in addition to armor-piercing fin-stabilized discarding-sabot rounds.
So, this tank cannot use standard NATO shells that use smooth-bore guns.
So, it is evident that Challenger 2 has a distinct disadvantage.
Abrams is lethal but brings in challenges for the user.
Over the years, due to upgrades, the Abrams has got heavier. It is probably the heaviest tank
currently operating at nearly 75 tonnes. This can restrict its mobility.
For example, it may be too heavy to drive over some bridges.
Abrams uses jet fuel, which is far more difficult to obtain compared
to the diesel used by the Leopard 2 & Challenger 2
They also have complicated maintenance requirements and require specialized training.
US Army and US Maine Corp are used to operating
Abrams for a long time now but for a new operator, it is not so easy.
Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Colin Kahl told reporters that the Abrams is a complicated,
expensive, difficult to maintain and hard to train a piece of equipment.
One thing Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has been very focused on,
he said, “is that we should not be providing the Ukrainians systems they can’t repair,
they can’t sustain, and that they, over the long term, can’t afford, because it’s not helpful.”
Abrams are being sent in-spite of all these
so as to set a precedence for other countries like Germany.