From the beginning of the war, the West was reluctant to supply modern main battle tanks of its own production. In recent weeks, however, that defensive front has crumbled. A summit in Germany today could bring an important decision.
A summit of supporters of Ukraine in the war against Russia that could have serious consequences is taking place today, Friday, at the huge US/NATO air base in Ramstein, near Kaiserslautern (Rhineland-Palatinate). Unsurprisingly, this is about more arms aid, but a particularly hard core will also be discussed and possibly a decision will be made: whether, after all deliveries of anti-tank missiles, ammunition, anti-aircraft guns, artillery and armored vehicles, for example, western main battle tanks will now also be made available. In other words, those tens of tons vehicles with large caliber cannons and one or two machine guns that form the basis of all mechanized troops in a modern army.
Requests from Kiev for western main battle tanks (often called tanks below, although this is a broad generic term) to bolster their own forces or to make up for tank losses were for a long time ignored and dismissed. Mainly by Germany, whose Leopard 2, expressly coveted by Ukrainians, has become a kind of NATO standard and, by contracts and laws, other carriers can only deliver it with a sanctus from Berlin. It is also found in Chile, Singapore, Switzerland and Austria.
The scramble in the west for tank help is huge, but recently the last dam seemed to have failed. An overview of the background and prospects of such a tank delivery.