For several weeks Ukraine has been asking the United States and several European countries to deliver Main Battle Tanks to face the Russian military power in terms of combat tanks. Poland is ready to deliver Leopard 2 in conjunction with other countries but Germany which is the producer of the tank has not yet given a positive answer about this proposal.
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Which is the next country after the UK that will deliver Main Battle Tanks to Ukraine, Germany with Leopard 2, the US with M1 Abrams, or France with the Leclerc?
To date, German chancellor Olaf Scholz avoided committing to the supply of Leopard 2 Main Battle Tanks (MBTs) to Ukraine. Last week, Poland and Finland have announced they are ready to deliver Ukraine Leopard 2 tanks from their military inventory, but both countries need permission from Germany to export the tank to another country due to international laws of weapons sales.
Citing a request from the Ukrainian government, Ukraine wants 300 western tanks to counter a new offensive of the Russian army in the next few weeks. Today, only the United Kingdom approved the delivery of 14 Challenger 2 tanks to Ukraine.
The German government announced that Germany is not ready to provide leopard 2 MBTs unless the United States made a similar decision, with a possible delivery of American-made M1 Abrams tanks. The French government has also launched a debate on the possibility of delivering French-made Leclerc tanks to Ukraine, but the big issue for that type of combat vehicle is the maintenance due to the technology mounted onboard the tank.
Indeed, the French Leclerc tank incorporates the most modern technologies to reach a high level in terms of mobility, firepower, and protection. The weapon system integrates the latest generation of optimized fire computer equipment to provide very great effectiveness in the duel against the entire adversary armored tank in all weather conditions during night and day at a maximum effective firing range of 3,000 m.
French Lecler Main Battle Tank
Regarding the American M1 Abrams tank, military experts from the United States said that the Abrams tank is a very complicated piece of equipment and used a gas turbine engine that uses around 11.5 liters to 1.6 km with jet fuel.
The M1 Abrams engine has impressive performance and is compact for its power output. It has a higher top road speed than many other modern tanks and has superior cross-country performance. Its gas turbine engine has servicing intervals significantly longer than those of diesel engines, however, is troublesome to maintain and has very high fuel consumption compared with diesel engines.
For many military experts, with the delivery of British Challenger 2 tanks to Ukraine, the leopard 2 is the best option using the same ammunition and fuel.
American-made M1A2 Main Battle Tank
The Leopard 2 is in service with 13 European countries including Austria, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and Turkey. This element is therefore very important in terms of deliveries, but also in terms of repair and maintenance.
The German Leopard 2 also has two major advantages, it is powered by a liquid-cooled V12 twin-turbo diesel engine that uses the same type of fuel as other combat vehicles delivered by European countries. Several countries in Europe have stocks of Leopard 2 which could quickly be made available to Ukraine.
We must wait now for the next meeting of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and defense leaders from roughly 50 countries that will be held at the Ramstein Air Base in Germany, on January 20, 2023. The main focus of this meeting is to know which countries will send Main Battle tanks to Ukraine, Germany, the United States, or France ...
German Leopard 2A4 Main Battle Tank
