The German-made Leopard 2 main battle tank has not proven to be an unstoppable super weapon in Ukraine.
Several of the German tanks have already been destroyed. Ukraine will need to overcome this setback, and the armored vehicles could still play a crucial role in Kyiv’s efforts to drive back the Russian military.
According to reports earlier this month, Ukraine will receive an additional fourteen Leopard 2A4s as part of a deal financed by the Danish and Dutch governments.
These are among the most advanced versions of the tanks, and they will be supplied and refurbished by the Germany-based Rheinmetall Group before they are sent to aid Kyiv. Germany has already approved the transfer of the tanks.
The deal was finalized on Tuesday, but the tanks will not likely start to arrive in Ukraine until early next year.
The first documented loss of a Leopard 2 occurred earlier this month. It is unclear how many of the German-made tanks have been destroyed. A number that have taken hits have been recovered and likely will be repaired and returned to action.
The Kremlin was so determined to destroy a Leopard 2 that it even placed a bounty on the MBTs.
More Aid Coming
Rheinmetall further announced on Tuesday that it would provide Ukraine with 26 military trucks and two air defense systems by the end of 2023. Germany has already provided Ukraine with 35 Gepard anti-aircraft platforms, and 15 more should arrive in the coming weeks. Berlin is now pledging to provide Ukraine with as many as 30 additional Gepards by the end of the year.
The Flugabwehrkanonenpanzer Gepard (Flakpanzer Gepard) is a self-propelled anti-aircraft system made by Krauss-Maffei Wegmann. It was designed to defend against modern combat aircraft, attack helicopters, remote-controlled missiles, and rockets, and it can also dependably fight against drones. The primary purpose of the Flakpanzer Gepard was to counter low-flying ground attack aircraft and helicopters employed by the Soviet Union and Warsaw Pact during the Cold War. The mobile platform can be operated by a crew of three, comprising a driver, commander, and gunner.
The Gepard’s main armament is a pair of Oerlikon GDF 35mm autocannons on either side of its specially designed turret. The guns fire a variety of ammunition, including special armor piercing discarding sabot tracer rounds and advanced hit efficiency and destruction rounds. These small ballistic projectiles cannot be destroyed by electronic defense measures, and the clouds of shrapnel they generate reliably destroy airborne targets.
This seems to be an ideal system to counter Russia’s drones and missiles. The Gepard has proven quite effective against the Iran-made Shahed-131 and -136 loitering munitions that Russia uses to target Ukraine’s energy infrastructure.
At issue had been the fact that Germany no longer produced the ammunition for the anti-aircraft gun, and while Switzerland has a stockpile of the ordnance, it refused to supply it to Ukraine. In February, Berlin announced that it had signed contracts with Rheinmetall to restart the production of ammunition for the Flakpanzer Gepard. It is unclear when the supplies of ammunition could be sent to Ukraine.
Author Experience and Expertise
A Senior Editor for 19FortyFive, Peter Suciu is a Michigan-based writer. He has contributed to more than four dozen magazines, newspapers, and websites with over 3,200 published pieces over a twenty-year career in journalism. He regularly writes about military hardware, firearms history, cybersecurity, politics, and international affairs. Peter is also a Contributing Writer for Forbes and Clearance Jobs. You can follow him on Twitter: @PeterSuciu.
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