Russia is not aware of what kind of help Kiev should receive soon.
More than 14 months after Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine, the war is unlikely to play out the way anyone expected. Ukraine is received far greater support from the West and could soon be using some of the most advanced military hardware developed by NATO – while Russia is “going backwards” because it is forced to rely on outdated equipment and vehicles that were developed and produced during the Cold War.
This fact has been widely reported by the media, but a less told part of the story is the efforts to maintain what is in service. For the most part, Russian forces appear to have made little effort to recover damaged or disabled tanks, instead relying on stockpiles of older vehicles. Ukraine, as an underdog, has been trying to get vehicles – including those captured by Kremlin forces – back into the fray from the start.
Modernization and repair of tanks
There are now reports that Kiev will receive additional support to maintain its main battle tanks (MBTs) and to upgrade older vehicles that have been promised to aid its war effort. The Czech Republic said earlier this month that it would increase efforts to modernize Cold War-era Soviet T-72 tanks in the arsenal of former Warsaw Pact countries that were donated to Kiev. Ukraine has already received 37 modernized T-72s as part of a military aid package financed by the US and the Netherlands, while Prague has proposed the establishment of a center for maintenance, repair and overhaul of heavy equipment with the support of the private sector.
Efforts are now underway in neighboring Poland to expand a maintenance center for German MBT Leopard 2s being delivered to Ukraine. The facility, which will start operating in May, will be located at the defense company Bumar-Labedi in Gliwice, Poland. He already has two decades of experience in maintaining and repairing Leopard 2A4 tanks of the Polish Army. It can also repair T-72 tanks. A certain number of NATO members have promised to provide Kiev with a certain number of Leopard 2s – which today are considered to be one of the best MBTs in service in the world.
Ukraine has already received two battalions of Leopard 2 tanks in the A4 and A6 variants. Although the damaged tanks will have to be recovered and then transported back to Poland, this will ensure that the Ukrainian tank force is better maintained than anything used by the Russian military. Even if the Leopard 2 could soon go into real combat, a different kind of battle is now being fought against the German MBT. On Tuesday, reports circulated that the two German firms – Rheinmetall AG and Krauss-Maffei Vegmann – that manufactured the tank are now embroiled in a legal dispute over intellectual property rights. The hearing will take place in a Munich court on May 2.
(WORLD)