The transference of leopard battle tanks 2 a Ukraine is focusing news on Western aid to the kyiv government to combat the Russian invaders. A qualitative leap, because until now the heavy material that the allies were delivering was Soviet-made and already technologically surpassed, although it was the material that the Ukrainians were used to using. Now comes more evolved western technology.
The great doubts pending in this installment, possible thanks to the fact that Germany has lifted the veto that he maintained since last April, are related to the number of units that are going to be sent to Ukraine, how and for how long the training courses for the Ukrainian crews and mechanics who will have to do their maintenance, and when will they arrive in Ukraine to be able to be used on the battlefield.
Many of these issues began to be discussed this Thursday in a video conference meeting held by the defense ministers of seven allied countries, including Spain, and who will be in charge of coordinating the entire training and delivery process. A first meeting about the content of which no information has been disclosed either in Spain or in other countries that were present at the meeting.
What is already known is that the Leopard 2 tanks, which the alliesyes want to deliver jointly to the Ukrainian army, and not each for himself, They won’t arrive on the battlefield until spring. This has been confirmed this Friday Daisy RoblesSpanish Defense Minister, while visiting the troops that are part of the so-called NATO anti-Russia wall in Latvia, which aims to dissuade Moscow from invading the Baltic countries.
“You have to keep in mind that it is not only about sending carsbut there is a very important job, which is the crew training work of the different Leopards and also of the maintenance instruction”, added the minister. What is clear is that the fact of delaying the delivery to spring not only facilitates the training processes, but also enables countries that need to put Point battle tanks can do it.
This is the case among them in Spain, which has pending recondition cars Of the version 2A4 -the oldest serving in the Armed Forces- which have been stored for almost a decade in Army facilities in Saragossa and that they were subjected to a process of disassembly and hibernation. Now it will be the technicians from General Dynamics, which maintains them and manufactured the modern 2E versions, who will have to get them ready for use.
In this sense, the german government has announced this Friday that along with the 14 units of this type of tank that it is going to transfer to Ukraine it will also include two armored vehicles bergepanzer 3which are used for recover the cars that may be damaged or stranded by enemy fire on the battlefield. This makes it possible, on the one hand, for them not to fall into the hands of the enemy and, on the other, to try to make them useful again for combat after the appropriate repairs.
