Saturday January 21, 2023 | 8:30 a.m.
107 years have passed since the first war tank was seen in action and we are still arguing about its usefulness and effectiveness in determining the course of a war. It was on September 15, 1916, as the British tried to break through the German lines during the infamous Battle of the Somme, the longest and bloodiest of World War I and the worst in British history, that the Mark 1 appeared, the first History tank. Since then, they have remained the stars of the battlefields despite having been vastly outclassed by high-precision missiles, kamikaze drones, or simultaneous launch batteries. And this weekend they were the center of the debate between the ministers of the NATO countries meeting at the Ramstein base, in Germany.
Ukraine is desperate for more powerful tanks to try to drive the Russian invaders back into the Black Sea before they regroup when spring begins in March. Germany has them, but its government fears that if it hands them over, it could escalate the war. He says he will only do so if the United States hands over its powerful M1 Abrams, something the Joe Biden government has not planned for now despite the fact that its military aid to Ukraine already exceeds $20 billion.
Ukraine’s top military commander, General Valery Zaluzhny, said his forces need about 300 Western tanks to make a difference in the ongoing battles for control of cities and towns in the country’s east. Military analysts say 100 could already make a big difference. Until now, Western NATO allies have sent vintage tanks and main battle tanks, including many from the Soviet era, to Ukraine. The provision of state-of-the-art tanks and main battle tanks was until now considered a red line to prevent Russia from retaliating directly against them. This changed in recent weeks when the United States, France and even Germany announced different aid packages that include modern armored fighting vehicles. British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak went further and after his visit to kyiv he said that he would send a platoon of Challenger 2 main battle tanks, some of which would arrive in a matter of weeks.
But the urgency of the situation made all eyes fall on the German Leopard 2, of which there are some 2,000 units distributed in various European countries that could send them to the battlefields in just days. It entered service for the first time in 1979. It has a range of about 500 km and reaches a top speed of 68 km/h. It is equipped with a 120mm cannon as its main armament, it also has two coaxial light machine guns. Leopards have been deployed to Kosovo, Bosnia, Afghanistan and Syria (by Turkey). They have several advantages, they are adapted and tested on the European ice fields, they are extremely effective, they could make a real difference against Russian artillery. Ukrainian tankers could be trained in days and within a few hours of their headquarters. Even Germany would not have to send its own tanks, it would be enough to authorize their re-export to the other Eastern European countries that already have them. Poland says they will do it anyway, but we will have to see what the others do.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz repeats that he “will not act alone” when it comes to sending arms to Ukraine, and that he will only act in concert with his allies. He is talking about Washington. He wants Biden to hand over his M1 Abrams first so he won’t be singled out as the one allegedly angering Putin. It is also unclear whether Scholz will authorize the export from Poland and Finland, the two countries that have already said they are willing to hand over their German tanks to the Ukrainians. What Scholz asks is that there be a very accurate display of unity from the entire Western coalition. But Johann Wadephul, vice president of the Christian Democrats, Germany’s largest opposition party, said Scholz’s reluctance to send the tanks undermined his argument for seeking solidarity. “The chancellor’s refusal, and the fact that Germany does not send Leopard, are in fact ‘going it alone’, ‘cutting yourself’, that has nothing to do with solidarity,” he said Thursday in parliament.
In Washington they expose technical obstacles to not deliver the Abrams. This week it was announced that an additional 100 combat vehicles of the Strykers and Bradleys type will be sent to Ukraine. Fifteen days ago another 50 of these tanks had already left. The US military argues that the M1 Abrams tanks are not suitable for fighting in eastern Ukraine. They require a specific fuel, frequent maintenance, spare parts, transportation, and training, where supply lines could easily be severed. Sabrina Singh, a Pentagon spokeswoman, explained that it “just doesn’t make sense” to provide Ukraine with Abrams tanks “at this point” because they use aviation fuel and are difficult to maintain.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky participated in the German summit with a Zoom message from kyiv. He asked Allied ministers “not to haggle over different numbers of tanks, but to open up that main supply that will stop the evil.” And he launched one of those direct and more or less witty phrases to which he has accustomed us: “Turn the meeting into a ‘Ramstein of tanks’.”
But it failed to move the positions substantially. At the end of the summit, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius announced that discussions were continuing. “We cannot yet say when and what the decision will be made regarding the Leopard tank,” he said. “There are good reasons in favor of renditions, and there are good reasons against, and in view of the whole situation of a war that has lasted almost a year now, all the pros and cons have to be weighed very carefully,” he said, without detail the reasons.
Ukraine will have to keep waiting for the decisive moment like when the M4 tank entered combat in North Africa with the British army in the Second Battle of El Alamein at the end of 1942. There the advantage of the Allied armor over the Axis was proven. and proved superior to the lighter German and Italian tank designs. It was when the US army understood that the M4 would be decisive in winning the war and began to manufacture and export it in record time.
