(pensive music)
- [Narrator] This Ukrainian crew
is driving a British Challenger 2 tank.
Kyiv's forces are training to maneuver,
(gun loading)
load ammunition and maintain Western military vehicles ahead
of their delivery to the battlefield,
which the UK says could be weeks away.
So far in the war, both Ukraine
and Russia have been using Soviet era tanks,
such as the T-72, but the UK is one of several NATO members
including Germany and the US that have offered
to send Western style tanks to Kyiv.
The Wall Street Journal visited the Ukrainian troops
learning to operate the systems to find out
the key technical differences with Russian tanks.
- [Trainer] Reverse.
Keep the grips in.
(tank rumbling)
- [Narrator] The British Army
is taking the Ukrainian soldiers
through different stages of training.
They're currently three weeks into the program.
First, let's look at maneuvering.
Some drills are being taught on training tanks,
which don't have turrets.
- We are at the point of the advanced sections
and that's more how to use the tank
in a tactical environment, how fast you can move it,
how much it can take essentially
before you have to basically rein it in a little bit.
- [[Narrator] Gregor is a Ukrainian Soldier
learning these skills.
(Gregor speaking in foreign language)
(tank rumbling)
- [Narrator] The Challenger 2 tanks are slower
than the Soviet era T-72 vehicles, as they're heavier.
- Soviet era tanks are smaller and lighter
than Western tanks
so they'll find it easier to get up a steep hill
because they weigh 45 or 50 tons
as opposed to about 70 tons of a Challenger.
- [Trainer] So when you've got steep hills,
because the gun might dig into the floor
when you come down the hill,
sometimes you'll need to stop and put the gun
over the side just to get down the hill.
- [Narrator] Then there's the differences in firepower.
The Challenger 2 has a 120 millimeter
rifled barrel tank gun.
That means the inside of the turret has grooves
while the T-72 uses what's known as a smooth bore armament
which means it has a flat interior.
- In theory, rifling makes the gun more accurate
but it also slightly slows down the round.
The T-72 has an auto loader
so there's a sort of circular cassette
of ammunition in the base of the turret.
- [Narrator] That's in contrast
to the Challenger 2, which requires manual loading.
- There are four people who operate a Challenger 2 tank.
We have a loader operator, which is different
from the the tanks that they have at the moment
because they have an auto loader in their tanks
and we have a person to do that.
- [Narrator] The British Army is training Ukrainian forces
to load the ammunition using a simulator machine
called a loaders drill trainer or LDT.
This helps the crew practice loading up the tank,
ready to fire.
(gun shooting) - [Announcer] target.
Target stopped.
- The loader needs to know how to get the big,
heavy 120 millimeter shell into the breach of the gun.
Now, that just needs practice.
It's not a complicated task
but physically, it's quite challenging
and it's even more challenging when the vehicle's in combat
and moving around.
- [Narrator] Ukrainian forces are also learning
to maintain the vehicle so they can run smoothly.
- We started off with the maintenance phase
and the technical details phase, to install components
how they work, every single aspect of the tank essentially.
- [Narrator] Lessons include how to check
these rubber triangles situated on the wheels.
They need regular checks during combat.
- Tracked vehicles do break down more frequently
than a wheeled vehicle of similar size.
(pensive music)
- [Narrator] Overall, military analysts say the readiness
of the Ukrainian forces will depend
on how quickly they can learn.
- Some of the Ukrainian armed forces
have operated tanks before
but most of them have not seen a tank.
- [Narrator] But getting to grips with battlefield tactics
and the electronic systems on board could be difficult
for those without prior experience
according to defense analysts.
The number of Western vehicles provided
could also be a hurdle for Ukraine.
Kyiv requested 300 western tanks
but defense experts say only around 50
to 60 have been offered so far.
Russian officials attacked the pledges for tanks.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Moscow sees them
as increasing the West's direct involvement in the conflict.
(soldiers shouting)
For the Ukrainian soldiers training here in the UK,
the lessons could soon be put into practice.
(pensive music)