The German Leopard tank.. How can it change the face of the war in Ukraine?

If you ever get the chance to visit Sumska Street in Ukraine's second largest city, Kharkiv, you can easily see several Russian T-72AV tanks lying aside like a small mountain of rubbish.

This city witnessed fierce battles during the beginnings of the war between February and April 2022, one side of which was these tanks, but the other side was not another tank, not even an armored vehicle, but the "Saint Javelin".

And if you do not know, “Saint Javelin” is a meme that spread on the Internet very intensively at the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, in which a religious symbol of a saint-like figure appears embracing a “Javelin” (1) FGM-148 (Javelin) anti-tank missile, American-made, Which the Ukrainians used to confront the Russians, and because of its really effective effects in neutralizing the tank attack, whoever carries it has become as if he is receiving a blessing from heaven. This small person who carries a weapon weighing less than 20 kilograms can, through a "javelin", confront a tank weighing more than 40 tons. !

Javelin is a portable RPG-like system developed to serve the US Army, with a range of 2,000 meters, and has many advantages such as light weight and ease of operation to the point that almost anyone can be trained to operate it, but most importantly, it follows "technology" Fire-and-forget, which enables the shooter to hit the target without having to aim at it accurately, thanks to electronic equipment and thermal and optical sensors inside the missile, which tracks the heat from the tank's engine or any heat source on board.

All it takes for a soldier in the case of a "javelin" (as well as the British "NLWA" system, which was also used in Ukraine) is to focus on the target - even if it is moving - for only three seconds, then press the fire button and run.

After launch, the missile flies autonomously to the target and makes the necessary corrections to its trajectory according to the data obtained from its tracking system.

Tanks are a deathtrap now.

With neither side having air superiority, you're left with infantry & artillery - essentially WW1.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 7, 2023

The success achieved by "Javelin" and similar regimes prompted questioning the role of tanks on the battlefield, whether in the Ukrainian case in particular or in the future war in general. This view also finds support from the recent Nagorno-Karabakh war in 2020, when Armenian tanks were destroyed like children's toys because of Suicide drones (2) (loitering ammunition) are Turkish-made Azerbaijani, which is repeated in other conflict arenas such as Libya and Syria. New anti-tank weapons such as "Javelin" or suicide drones work efficiently in all types of weather, and their strikes come from above, along with accuracy. They are severe in their targeting, and the tanks appear to be an outdated and outdated weapon.

Tanks return

As of this writing, Russia is believed to have lost around 1,400 tanks during the war in Ukraine. This has prompted people like Elon Musk (the man who currently comments on almost everything) to say that tanks have become death traps, but it wasn't just Musk's opinion. A number of military technology specialists and war generals have already wondered about the fate of tanks, not only in the Ukrainian war, but the entire war.

However, it seems that this discussion did not last long. After the progress made by the Ukrainian forces and their success in winning a number of battles over the Russians, all of this, of course, with the help of European and American weapons, the need for main battle tanks quickly emerged again in order to invest in this victory. And exploiting the artillery breakthroughs in the Russian lines, to restore fortified positions in the rest of the Ukrainian territory in the southeast of the country.

At that stage of the conflict, the need for "Main Battle Tanks" (3) arose, which are simply tools to penetrate and impose control of forces on the ground. You can hit any targets with planes, marches and various types of missiles, but in the end you will need to Infantry enters the battlefield to control positions, and tanks are a lightly mobile force that strikes direct fire, is protected by light armor, and has the ability to maneuver.

The current Ukrainian need proves that tanks are a weapon that can only be replaced by advanced technologies in the same range.

In the end, control of the land is still important, especially if the enemy also uses tanks that you must pass through before reaching your goal, in addition to that there is an additional problem that makes tanks a major requirement for Ukraine, as it lost the US missile launcher "Himars" ( M142 HIMARS), which Russian forces deftly destroyed during Ukrainian counter-operations in the fall of 2022, has its advantages because the Russians have moved further out of range to avoid it, and its supplies may run short in the coming months.

The Himars missile launcher (Reuters)

Currently, Ukraine is asking its Western allies for 300 tanks and 500 armored vehicles, in addition to at least 700 new artillery systems, and politicians in Kyiv (4) say that this will give them the fighting power to liberate the country within the limits of February 23 (the date of the start of the last Russian war). ), with an extended plan to liberate Crimea (taken over by Russia in 2014) if they win.

The Ukrainian army already uses Soviet-era tanks donated by allies from Eastern Europe or captured by the Russians, but they certainly don't compare to the capabilities of advanced Western tanks.

Indeed, White House officials have said that the Department of Defense will deliver Bradley Fighting Vehicles (BFV) and Stryker personnel carriers to Ukraine in the near future, which are armored vehicles that can transport infantrymen in combat zones and provide great defense capabilities, but most importantly they have advantages Also offensive, as it can attack enemy forces and armored vehicles while they are in the heart of the battle.

Armored vehicle "Bradley" (Anatolia)

But control of the land cannot occur only by using armored vehicles, there must be harmony between them and tanks, armored vehicles spread on the ground to deal with enemy infantry and neutralize their anti-tank and armor-piercing missiles (ATGM), and tanks penetrate gaps in enemy lines to support entry Armored vehicles in the first place, and thus the combined arms approach is achieved, in which the various combat weapons of the army are integrated to achieve complementary effects.

Supply stopped

At this point in particular, the dispute that has topped the headlines during the last period appears, although Britain has already agreed to supply Ukraine with main battle tanks of the “Challenger 2” type, the number that it pledged is very few (only 14), and its capabilities Less than other combat tanks such as the German "Leopard" and the American "Abrams", and the biggest problem is that both the United States and Germany have been delaying for a long time in sending tanks to Ukraine, and each blames the other, before the matter changed in the past hours. Information in Germany and the United States that the two countries have already agreed to supply Ukraine with its needs of tanks.

As for the American tank, known as the “M1 Abrams” (5) (5), it is characterized by a long firing range, and it is now one of the heaviest tanks in service, as it weighs about 62 metric tons (the weight of the tank is a mark of distinction). Service in 1980, and it is currently the main combat tank of the United States Army, and it is exported to Egypt, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Australia, Iraq, and others. The Abrams was used for the first time in combat in the Second Gulf War, and it was present in the Afghanistan war and the Iraq war, and it also participated in the war against the Islamic State.

On the other side comes (6) the German "Leopard 2", which is also one of the most powerful tanks in the world, as it can hit a target the size of a refrigerator at a distance of 3 kilometers. The German army has used it for decades, and it has been used by 13 armies. Another European country, as well as the armies of countries such as Canada and Indonesia, have been used during the conflicts in Kosovo, Afghanistan and Syria.

The development of the main battle tank "Leopard-2" began in the seventies, and it was adopted as a main tank in 1979.

The German Leopard tank (right) and the American Abrams tank (websites)

Both tanks have a 120 mm smooth Rheinmetall main gun, each carrying more than 40 rounds for the main gun, and usually use two main types of ammunition: armor-piercing and multi-purpose rounds.

Both are equipped with advanced Chobham armor that provides powerful defense against armor-piercing rounds and anti-tank weapons.

In addition, the fuel and ammunition tanks are in separate compartments to protect the crew from the danger of tank ammunition exploding if the tank is damaged.

In addition, the two tanks are equipped with a digital fire control computer and automatic fire suppression systems for the safety of the crew.

In the end, the two tanks are similar in many specifications with minor contrivances, due to the fact that they are the product of a joint American-German technical development program in the seventies.

NATO tanks are generally heavier (7) and more protective than the Soviet-era designs used by both sides (the Russians and the Ukrainians) in this war, such as the T-72, T-64 and T-90 tanks. Modern Western main battle tanks weigh more than 60 tons, Russian tanks usually weigh between 40-50 tons.

In addition, their forward speeds are much greater than the Russian tanks, and most importantly, their backward speed is greater by a competitive difference, which means in general greater capabilities for maneuvering and controlling the ground.

In fact, a modern Western battle tank such as the "Abrams" or "Leopard" can hit targets several kilometers away, move quickly and absorb most types of Russian tank fire, and it also has advanced thermal imaging and zoom techniques, which makes it more likely to detect presence, and then Hit the enemy early. This means that we are already talking about what could be considered a "turning point" in the fate of this war.

Operation Leopard

German "Leopard 2" tank (Reuters)

"Leopard" is currently receiving great attention from the Ukrainians, not only for its extreme uniqueness, but also due to the presence of many "Leopard" tanks near Ukraine. There are about 2,000 "Leopard" battle tanks currently maintained by 13 countries on the continent of Europe, Therefore, she is ready to travel and work in Ukraine.

As for "Abrams", Ukraine's supply of it remains surrounded by major logistical problems, in addition to that its turbine engines consume large amounts of jet fuel, which is very expensive, and it also needs supply lines of a different nature, unlike the "Leopard" which Diesel.

On this particular point, the Americans and the Germans have been arguing for a long time. The US Congress refuses to supply Ukraine with "Abrams" tanks for the previous reasons, saying that "Leopard" seems more logical, while (8) German officials confirm that they will not send their "Leopard" tanks to Ukraine. Ukraine, and they will not allow any other European country to do so, unless the United States also agrees to send Abrams tanks to Ukraine.

Behind this hesitation are fears that supplying Ukraine with tanks could actually turn the matter into a war between Russia and NATO, and increase the risks of Russian escalation.

In fact, supplying Ukraine with this type of advanced military technology (Leopard) represents an additional leap in Western support for Ukraine, as this does not only mean a current development of an ongoing war, but consequently means that the Ukrainians have influential military technical capabilities in which their experience will continue for decades to come, which is What worries the Russians?

The most important thing is that all of the above comes in light of a clear military retreat by Moscow during the past months, although Russia has recently succeeded in reducing its losses and moving again to control more cities, after Putin’s decision (9) to mobilize 300,000 additional soldiers and adjust the deployment of forces in Ukrainian cities. Changing combat strategies.

This puts a heavy burden on the Germans in particular, and behind them the rest of the NATO countries, and pushed them to take the difficult decision to supply tanks to Kyiv.

The main question here remains: How will Leopard change the face of the battle in Ukraine?

Will the war bring it to an end, or will it be the beginning of a new phase of escalation?

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Sources