Wrecked Leopard II tanks<\/p>\n
The Ukrainian military is currently facing a severe shortage of tanks as Russia continues to destroy much of their fleet, while other tanks have sustained damage that Kiev lacks the capacity to repair.<\/p>\n
This is according to Foreign Affairs<\/em> magazine, who reports that a substantial number of Leopard 2 battle tanks Ukraine received from foreign states are no longer in service. More than one fourth of them have been destroyed by Russian troops<\/a>. The German-made tanks used by Ukraine were lauded as game-changers, but the outlet says that Ukraine is quickly discovering they are \u201chardly invulnerable superweapons.\u201d<\/p>\n Foreign Affairs<\/em> noted: \u201cOf the fewer than 100 Leopard 2s in Ukrainian service, at least 26 have been knocked out; others cannot be used due to repair and maintenance issues.\u201d<\/p>\n They added that Kiev does not have the type of infrastructure in place that it needs to maintain the fleet of tanks.<\/p>\n Early last year, Germany announced it would be supplying Leopard 2 tanks to Kiev, which are sturdy tanks that hold four people and weigh around 70 tons apiece. They were used in the earlier parts of Ukraine\u2019s counteroffensive last summer but did not manage to make an impact against the deep defensive lines set up by Russia.<\/p>\n Military analysts don\u2019t think better tanks would have helped matters; one big problem was the rushed training given to Ukrainian tank crews. The tank brigades were reportedly given just five weeks of instruction on using these complex machines, and they consisted of \u201cinexperienced formations\u201d lacking experience in combat.<\/p>\n However, earlier this month, a member of Germany\u2019s Green Party, Sebastian Schafer, told the German newspaper Der Spiegel<\/em> that Ukraine had \u201cvery few\u201d Leopard tanks<\/a> remaining, and some were no longer functioning. He reported that they lacked the spare parts needed to repair them following a visit to one of their repair facilities in Lithuania. He added that Kiev\u2019s untrained forces were making the damage worse by trying to repair the tanks without the proper knowledge and parts.<\/p>\n On a recent visit to a Leopard A26 platoon, German TV network NTV reported that only one of the unit\u2019s four tanks was ready for combat.<\/p>\n The U.S. provided Ukraine with 31 M1 Abrams battle tanks last year, with the first ones arriving in October. These tanks also failed to make an impression, with Forbes<\/em> saying<\/a> it was \u201cnot clear” what they were even doing with the expensive machinery. It is believed that they might not have been used in combat at all as Ukraine spends time \u201cup-armoring them to resist attacks by Russia\u2019s explosive-laden first-person-view drones\u201d \u2013 an unusual step considering the U.S. refurbished them extensively before shipping them out.<\/p>\n Not surprisingly, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky claims they haven\u2019t been given enough tanks to make headway. This is par for the course for the politician, who devotes much of his time to shaking down Western nations for financial and material support.<\/p>\n Russia, meanwhile, appears to be faring far better when it comes to replacing its own tanks, with the UK Defense Ministry noting in a recent intelligence update that although Russia\u2019s ground forces are losing roughly 100 tanks per month<\/a>, they are capable of replacing them at a similar rate, maintaining their offensive effort even in the wake of major losses.<\/p>\n The ministry explained: “Russia can probably generate at least 100 MBTs a month and therefore retains the capacity to replace battlefield losses and continue this level of offensive activity for the foreseeable future.”<\/p>\n They report that Russia has lost 2,600 main battle tanks and a further 4,900 armored vehicles since fighting with Ukraine<\/a> began in February 2022. While Ukraine\u2019s numbers aren\u2019t as high, their inability to repair and replace them puts them at a major disadvantage. Russia also has manpower, industrial and material advantages over Ukraine.<\/p>\n Sources for this article include:<\/strong><\/p>\n RT.com<\/a><\/p>\n TheDefensePost.com<\/a><\/p>\nTanks from Germany and U.S. not enough to help inept Ukrainian troops<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Russia has capacity to replace lost tanks quickly<\/strong><\/h2>\n