Polish President Andrzej Duda announced during a visit to western Ukraine last Wednesday that Warsaw will send a Leopard 2 tank company (14 tank company) to Ukraine, as Western countries are close to providing Ukrainian forces with the heavy weapons they have long requested.
But Berlin, which holds the export license for German-made main battle tanks, has been reluctant to commit to sending them.
After France announced that it would send light tanks to Kyiv, pressure increased on the German Chancellor Olaf Schultz's government regarding Leopard 2 tanks.
As for these tanks, they are what the Ukrainians really need more than the British Challenger 2 tanks and the American Abrams tanks, Professor Michael Clarke, a prominent defense and security analyst told Newsweek.
The Leopard 2 is a main battle tank with a top speed of 43.5 mph and a range of just under 280 miles.
It is produced by Krauss-Maffei Wegmann, the manufacturer that describes the Leopard 2 as "the perfect combination of protection, mobility, maneuverability and firepower".
The Leopard 2 tanks are superior in their main advantages over the British Challenger 2 tanks and the American Abrams tanks.
It is used by more than a dozen countries across Europe and is a very good tank, according to Clark.
Poland's promise of a company of Leopard 2 tanks is only "a tentative number," Clark added, but with 100 tanks the Ukrainians would have enough for two armored battle groups when combined with the rest of the military equipment, vehicles and air support heading for the front lines.
For his part, Nick Reynolds, research analyst on land warfare at the Royal United Research Services Institute in the United Kingdom, told the magazine that dozens of Leopard 2 tanks would make some difference on the front lines, but he stressed that proper training, adequate maintenance and supplies of spare parts will be crucial. success on the battlefield.