Gladbeck.
A train with tanks has been in Gladbeck for days, occasionally shunting. Which vehicles are on the train and why their destination is unclear.
Already a queasy feeling. Pretty martial what is rolling through the middle of Gladbeck. A train slowly moves over the tracks of the Gladbeck-West station, it has loaded heavy equipment, war equipment. Armored cars, on the roof, clearly visible, a weapon system. Van, truck, partially painted with a red cross, and then finally: wheeled armor with moveable turrets, some of them armed with long cannons.
Even in “normal” times, the train, which has been parked on the Gladbeck tracks for a few days now, would certainly not be a welcome sight. But when the combat machines from the news all of a sudden roll through the front yard, the war gets an uncomfortable closeness. The war, of course, is the one in Ukraine. But he really does have the heavy war equipment in Gladbeck with him Putin’s raid to do?
Where are the Gladbeck tanks taken to?
An inquiry at the Ministry of Defense does not bring a quick result. Only four days later did the sobering answer come: maybe yes, maybe not. A spokesman for territorial leadership commands When asked, the Bundeswehr explained that Gladbeck “may be dealing with Belgian combat vehicles”. Large military equipment, such as tanks, for example, would often be transported over longer distances by rail. This is inexpensive and reduces road damage if the heavy tanks rumble to their destination under their own power.
Speaking of destination. Where are the vehicles actually taken? Again disillusionment, the leadership command can not give any information. “For the transport processing and any rest and rest times, the DB Cargo responsible, and the Bundeswehr is not always aware, especially when our support is not needed.”
The Belgian tanks in Gladbeck come from Switzerland
In the Gladbeck case, however, the railways cannot help either. On the one hand, according to a spokesman, the freedom from discrimination, so the rail routes are open to all railway companies. In other words: it’s quite possible that the Gladbeck armored train has nothing to do with the railways, except that it rolls on its tracks. And even if it were a DB train – then you shouldn’t give any information.
With the information from the Territorial Command, however, it can be assumed that the wheeled tanks are Belgian variants of the so-called „Piranha“-Radpanzers acts. It is therefore very likely that the other vehicles also belong to the Belgian army.
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But the Piranha case is a delicate one. The Swiss government, the manufacturer Mowag is from Switzerland, has now given in and allowed the delivery of piranhas to the Ukraine. It is questionable whether Belgium will join deliveries from Denmark and Germany. Because since the Belgian army in 2014 their last Leopard main battle tank decommissioned and sold, the piranhas are the last remaining main battle tanks in the country.
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