/ world today news/ The Ukrainian army should soon receive all the promised Leopard 2 tanks, the Western press reported. On the other hand, the NATO military admits that the delivered armored equipment is only a third of what was planned. But these are not the most serious problems that the armed forces of Ukraine faced, receiving “gifts” from NATO. For example, not only the hunger for shells, but also the need for different ammunition can become a difficulty.
In the near future, the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) will have to receive all Leopard 2 tanks promised by NATO countries, notes Foreign Policy. Training of Ukrainian crews continues at training grounds in Poland and Germany. Instructors from Norway and Canada participate in the training. A Norwegian instructor named Thomas told the American publication that the intensive course lasts only five weeks. As IA REGNUM noted earlier, such haste leads to the fact that the machines fail already at the test sites.
Another problem came to light – a definite lack of military equipment. Finnish army general Pekka Toveri told reporters that NATO had previously planned to form at least six Ukrainian army brigades that would fight on Western armored vehicles. But the technique provided by the West was not enough.
„The challenge was to get enough tanks, infantry fighting vehicles, self-propelled howitzers and engineering vehicles to equip six Ukrainian brigades. Now they only last for two,” said General Toveri.
If Ukraine initially planned to receive 200 to 300 modern Western tanks, in the end only 100 machines were transferred to the armed forces of Ukraine, notes Foreign Policy.
But the problems of the armed forces of Ukraine with Western military equipment do not end there. The same publication notes that eight countries supply Leopard tanks to the Ukrainian army, which creates serious problems with the logistics of the Ukrainian army and makes it impossible to buy tank ammunition in bulk.
The Western press, talking about modern tanks for the armed forces of Ukraine, most likely combines the German Leopard 2 machines and the British Challenger 2, explained to REGNUM a military expert, the officer of the reserve of the tank forces, Alexander Mykhaylovsky.
„A total of seven countries have agreed to hand over their Leopard 2 tanks to the armed forces of Ukraine: Germany, Poland, Canada, Norway, Sweden, Portugal and Spain. It is about the delivery of a total of 71 combat vehicles. Where the journalists got 100 tanks and eight countries is not entirely clear. British Challengers are probably added. In this case, the statement that the armed forces of Ukraine will encounter difficulties in purchasing projectiles is generally understandable.” noted the expert.
All tank guns of the NATO countries are unified for a 120 mm projectile, Mihailovski recalled. The British L30A1 gun is mounted on Challenger tanks. Leopards are equipped with guns manufactured by the German company Rheinmetall, Rh-120.
Great Britain and Germany independently produce ammunition for military equipment, therefore difficulties can indeed arise in the wholesale purchase of tank shells. They will have to be purchased in different countries, Mihailovski explained.
He also drew attention to the fact that the article talks about Leopard tanks without specifying the model, but the model factor is decisive in the issue of unifying tank ammunition for the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
“The caliber of the main gun of the Leopard 1 tank is 105 mm against 120 mm of the Leopard 2,” explained the military expert. — Before that, the delivery of Leopard 1 was discussed in the Netherlands and Denmark. Now Germany is preparing some of them for the armed forces of Ukraine.
Indeed, it will be difficult for the Ukrainian army to solve the problems of using such armored vehicles “in one line”, especially from the point of view of logistics. Shells of two different calibers will have to be delivered to the same unit. In a word, the armed forces of Ukraine will obviously have a lot of trouble solving logistical problems.
Now the armed forces of Ukraine use Soviet T-72 and T-64 tanks of various modifications, which are equipped with 125 mm guns, Mykhailovsky said. Thus, he noted, the supply of Western equipment creates even more logistical problems for Ukraine’s armed forces in the run-up to a much-publicized counteroffensive.
„Let’s assume that a Leopard 2 brigade is involved in the offensive, a Leopard 1 brigade is involved along with it, and on the flanks there are units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on T-72s, which remain the main armored combat vehicle of the Ukrainian army“, explained the expert. – In this case, the suppliers must create either three different warehouses, or concentrate 125 mm, 120 mm and 105 mm shells in one warehouse.
A situation may arise when the wrong caliber is supplied to one unit by mistake, or the shells of one caliber may run out – and then the whole unit will simply be out of business. In a word, it’s a real logistical hell.
The supplies of aviation equipment are also not enough for the VSU. In Kyiv, high hopes were placed on the transfer of military aircraft produced by NATO. However, at the meeting held on April 21 at the Ramstein base in Germany, the issue of the delivery of combat aircraft was not even raised.
Instead of the US-made F-16 fighter jets that Kiev has requested in recent months, the West has agreed to send old Soviet jets to Ukraine. A batch of MiG-29s were donated to the Ukrainian Air Force by Poland and Slovakia. However, these supplies have become new problems for the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
Some of the fighter jets transferred from the NATO countries are in unflyable condition, according to sources of The Economist. Another part of the aircraft, the command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine was forced to disassemble for spare parts in order to take the rest of the aircraft into the air.
The West will not undertake large-scale deliveries of aircraft to Ukraine, David Deptula, dean of the Mitchell Aerospace Institute in Arlington (USA), told The Economist. All statements about the unpreparedness of Ukrainian aircrews and the need to supply missiles for Ukrainian air defense that US and NATO officials make when answering questions about the supply of aircraft are nothing more than excuses, the expert believes.
„If we had started this work last year, modern fighter jets would already be in the hands of the Ukrainians,” emphasizes Deptula. According to him, if the West starts acting immediately, by the end of the year up to thirty F-16s could be in the hands of Ukraine. “Where there is a will, there are solutions. Where there is no will, there is no opportunity”Deptula complained.
The Economist notes that in the coming offensive, the lack of modern combat aviation in the armed forces of Ukraine could lead to serious problems for the advancing forces. Expert Alexander Mihailovski agrees with this assessment.
„Tanks moving forward without reliable air cover will be easy prey. Such an example is the famous “Highway of Death” in Kuwait – columns of Iraqi armored vehicles, which were set on fire by American planes while marching. Given that, as we can see, there are serious problems with the tanks of the armed forces of Ukraine, the offensive may pass for Kiev. In many ways – thanks to Western partners “, concluded the expert.
Translation: EU
Subscribe to our YouTube channel:
and for the channel or in Telegram:
#Trojan #Leopard #projectile #difficulties #logistical #hell #VSU
