The German federal government has granted Ukraine an export authorization for Leopard 1 combat tanks. Hebestreit, a government spokeswoman, acknowledged this without providing any specifics.
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| Leopard 1 Tank |
The transfer of "Leopard 1" combat tanks from industrial stockpiles to Ukraine has been approved by the German federal government. Corresponding media reports in Berlin verified government spokesperson Steffen Hebestreit. He did not provide any other information on the approval, such as the quantity of tanks. "More tangible in the coming days and weeks," he says.
The arms business Rheinmetall and the Flensburger Fahrzeugbau Gesellschaft (FFG), according to the "Süddeutsche Zeitung," plan to prepare dozens of "Leopard 1" tanks and might deliver them to Ukraine in the struggle against Russia. However, according to the article, procuring the necessary 105-millimeter ammunition remains a challenge.
Although Brazil still possesses enormous stores of ammunition owing to the arrival of about 250 "Leopard" tanks from Germany, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's government has so far refused to pass it on, as it did with ammunition for the "Gepard" anti-aircraft tank.
The "Leopard 1" was the first main combat tank developed for the Bundeswehr following WWII. It was manufactured between the mid 1960s and the mid 1980s. The "Leopard 1" had already been withdrawn by the Bundeswehr in 2003. The previous model "could not keep up at all" with the "Leopard 2," according to a representative for the Federal Ministry of Defense. The federal cabinet decided last week to send 14 Leopard 2 A6 main combat tanks to Ukraine.
They come from the stock of the Bundeswehr. Federal Defense Minister Boris Pistorius has promised to retrofit the tanks with more modern Type 2A7s as soon as possible.