Officers stated america plans to ship Abrams tanks to Ukraine

A spokesman for the Ministry of Protection advised CNN that the German military has 320 Leopard 2 principal battle tanks, however didn’t disclose the variety of tanks that may be prepared for battle.

The Leopard 2, the entire A5, A6 and A7 sequence, are in varied situations, in restore situation and prepared for deployment, a spokesperson defined.

He stated the German military not owns the Leopard 1, an older sequence of principal battle tanks. Likewise, it additionally doesn’t retailer older Leopard 2 fashions such because the A4.

In the meantime, arms maker Rheinmetall stated final week it has 139 Leopards in inventory, however solely 29 of these Leopard 2s shall be combat-ready this spring. These 29 have already in concept been ceded to 3rd nations as a part of a tank swap.

In keeping with the corporate, the remainder of the shares should be ready over an extended time frame.

A Rheinmetall spokesperson advised CNN on Tuesday that the remainder of the stock — 88 Leopard 1 automobiles — a couple of might be delivered in about 9 months, and the remainder in a 12 months.

One other German arms maker, FFG, has 99 Leopards in inventory, however solely of the older Leopard 1 sequence, an organization spokesperson advised CNN.

Even when a tank is prepared and repaired, it wants ammo and spare elements to have the ability to deploy.

a little bit of contextPoland has formally requested Germany for permission to switch Leopard 2 principal battle tanks to Ukraine. Till now, Germany has resisted calls from Poland, america and different NATO nations to maneuver the automobiles to Ukraine or to permit different nations to ship some Panthers to Kyiv.

However German Protection Minister Boris Pistorius stated earlier that his nation would decide on the tanks “very quickly.”