A German Leopard tank in Bratislava, Slovakia. Getting the tanks ready for battle would take months, said Rheinmetall. Photograph: Radovan Stoklasa/Reuters
The Guardian: German tank manufacturer’s warning puts pressure on Ukraine’s allies
Defence firm dampens Kyiv hopes other European allies will follow UK’s lead in supplying heavy armour
Battle tanks from German industrial reserves wanted by Ukraine will not be ready to be delivered until 2024, the arms manufacturer Rheinmetall has warned, increasing pressure on Nato allies to support Ukraine with armoured vehicles in active service instead, ahead of a key meeting this week.
“Even if the decision to send our Leopard tanks to Kyiv came tomorrow, the delivery would take until the start of next year,” Rheinmetall’s chief executive, Armin Papperger, told the Bild am Sonntag newspaper.
Rheinmetall, which manufactures the battle vehicle’s gun, has 22 Leopard 2 and 88 older Leopard 1 tanks in its stocks. Getting the Leopard tanks ready for battle, however, would take several months and cost hundreds of millions of euros the company could not put up until the order was confirmed, Papperger said.
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WNU Editor: Ukraine needs hundreds of combat tanks and the infrastructure/ammo/fuel to back such a force. And they need it now. The above Guardian post pours cold water on Germany being able to supply these tanks anytime soon.
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