The Federal Government of Germany has officially authorized the supply of 178 Leopard tanks of the first generation to Ukraine.
This was reported by the press service of the Ministry of Defense of Germany.
"The Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (BMWK), which is the licensing authority, has issued a permit to German arms companies to export up to 178 Leopard 1 A5 main battle tanks to Ukraine. How many Leopard 1 A5 tanks will actually be delivered to Ukraine depends on the necessary repair work," the ministry said.
The financing and repair of tanks, as well as the training of the Ukrainian military, will be carried out in close coordination with the European partner countries of Germany.
As Business Insider writes, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said during his visit to Kyiv that 20 to 25 tanks should arrive in Ukraine by the summer. By the end of the year, there should be up to 80. The goal is to deliver 100 tanks by the first or second quarter of 2024.
Rheinmetall wants to send the first 20-25 Leopard 1 main battle tanks to Ukraine this year. The rest of the 88 units Rheinmetall has could be delivered by the end of 2024, CEO Armin Papperger said at the Europe 2023 conference in Berlin on Tuesday. Another 90 Leopard 1s are to come from Flensburger Fahrzeugbau Gesellschaft (FFG).
- At the end of January, Germany officially agreed to transfer Leopard tanks to Ukraine and gave permission to other countries to do so. After that, it became known that European countries are preparing to transfer 80 Leopard tanks to Ukraine. This is enough to form two tank battalions. One battalion will be assembled from tanks provided by Germany, the Netherlands, Spain and Finland. These will be Leopard 2A6 versions. The second battalion will be supplied with tanks from Poland and Norway version 2A4.
- On February 3, the German government approved the plans of the German arms manufacturer Rheinmetall to sell 88 old Leopard 1 tanks to Kyiv.