On the morning of August 7, the first Leopard 1 tanks were sent from Belgian territory to Ukrainian territory; an unnamed country acted as a buyer of the tanks for Ukraine.
Source: Belgian edition”Business AM“with reference to the sources he cites”European truth“
Details: 50 tanks were completely taken out of service by the Belgian army a few years ago. Under the pressure of the need for additional savings, the army leadership decided to retire all heavy tracked vehicles and replace them with lighter armored vehicles on tires.
However, the tanks were never included in the list of equipment that Belgium supplies to Ukraine.
According to Defense Minister Ludivine Dedonder, they are too expensive to be put into service. Earlier this year, she said: “Work was done to patch them up again, but the company is now asking up to 500 thousand euros for the car. I understand that the work is not free, but the margin is too high.”
Belgium sold the tanks to OIP Systems for only 15 thousand euros apiece, that is, at the price of old iron. The army did not have enough hangars to accommodate decommissioned equipment, so they sold it at dumping prices.
However, another country decided to purchase “Leopard 1”.
After a thorough reconstruction, the first cars are already sent to Ukraine through Germany and Italy. Along the way, they will be equipped with new weapons systems.
It is not known which country acquired these machines. So far, only Germany, Denmark and the Netherlands have announced that they will transfer to Ukraine the “Leopard 1” bought from the industry.
Business AM notes that OIP will have a large amount of equipment in storage, including Gepard anti-aircraft tanks. They are especially in demand in Ukraine, where they have proved suitable for shooting down Russian drones.
About 40 Gepards are still in stock at OIP, but they are too old to be powered, according to a Defense Department source. However, another insider points out that they can be launched, but not at the price Belgium is willing to pay. This price will reach 2 million euros for each.
This was preceded by: At the end of July, Germany reported on a new batch of military aid delivered to Ukraine, including – ten Leopard 1 A5 tanks.
Swiss Government in June did not allow re-export almost hundreds of Leopard 1 tanks, which, after modernization in Germany, were to be transferred to Ukraine.
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2023-08-08 13:50:09
