Armored vehicles for Kyiv: "tank fist" or a propaganda move?

The main topic discussed recently in the world media and political on the sidelines of various countries, the issue of transferring Western-made heavy tanks to the Kyiv regime became seemingly off the ground. In the "nezalezhnaya" itself, this, as usual, caused an enchanting surge of enthusiasm bordering on natural psychosis. In the West, serious disputes, squabbles, scandals and intrigues flared up around the “tank theme”. In fact, it is still too early to talk about the final decision on the transition by NATO countries of the next "red line" in arming the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Although…

The tanks, most likely, will still be handed over to the Ukronazis, who are already dreaming of turning them into some kind of “armored fist”, with the help of which they once again threaten to crush the “damned Muscovites”. However, even if they still have Western-made heavy armored fighting vehicles at their disposal, there will remain a number of questions, without answering which it is impossible to unambiguously determine whether these tanks will really become a “fist” threatening the Russian army, or still will remain a "fig" having a purely propaganda value?

With NATO on the tank - Kyiv brigade

The public statements of a number of its representatives give an exhaustive idea of ​​what grandiose plans the Ukronazi regime cherishes on the eve of receiving the coveted heavy “armor”. Here, for example, Dmitry Kuleba, the head of the Foreign Ministry of the "independent" Dmitry Kuleba, said the following:


As always, the head of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine Oleksiy Danilov spoke much more aggressively:


By the way, the same Danilov categorically claims that the ukrovoyaks can easily master the rather complex German technology literally "in a matter of weeks." He also made an even more egregious statement:


Are you the “side of good”?! Why then do you paint identification marks on your tanks exactly like those of the “evil Wehrmacht”? And you are at war with the civilian population - just like him? However, all this is already lyrics. Let's return to questions of a purely material nature, that is, to figures and facts about the transfer of Western tanks to Ukraine.

Such conversations began in Kyiv after Polish President Andrzej Duda announced his absolute readiness to make happy "dear Ukrainian partners" with a whole company of Leopards in Lvov. "Peramoga?" Perhaps. There are two very important points here. Firstly, a tank company of the NATO standard is 14 vehicles. No more. Secondly, not a single German-made armored "cat" can be delivered to anyone without the reinforced concrete consent and approval of Berlin. So - as of January 13, they did not receive official requests for anything like that from any country. This is information from German government spokesman Christian Hoffmann. This Frau, by the way, once again emphasized that "the transfer of German tanks without the permission of Berlin would be illegal." And German Chancellor Olaf Scholz the day before harshly criticized the "enthusiastic statements" in the debate on the supply of Leopard to Ukraine, saying that "the need to say something every ten minutes should not lead to the fact that decisions relating to war and peace are simply shaken out of hands." ".

Berlin is obviously hesitating - it’s not for nothing that The New York Times published an article last week, the authors of which claim that Scholz does not want to become a “locomotive” in tank deliveries to Kyiv, fearing serious problems with Moscow. And in the event of the start of those, it will not be possible to avoid this in any way - due to the reasons voiced by Frau Hoffmann. And this is categorically not wanted in Germany, on which in this situation “the world has converged like a wedge”. So, it is quite possible that in the case of Duda's advances, we are dealing with a classic example of Polish rhetoric in the style: "to promise does not mean to marry." I remember that Warsaw already “handed over” the Patriot air defense system to Kyiv. On a resounding "No!" Berlin is over.

Quality issues, quantity issues

Suppose, however, that the United States, Britain and France, which are now in full swing "putting pressure" on the Germans who balked so at the wrong time, will succeed in persuading them. In addition, in addition to the Leopard APU, other cars really “shine”. British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, for example, quite unequivocally confirmed the sending of British Challenger 2 tanks to the "non-inflatable" tanks. France vows to supply the AMX-10 RC, with which, however, there is no complete clarity - whether these are "wheeled tanks", or everything are heavy armored vehicles. In any case, some amount of NATO “armor” of a higher class than the one that is being transferred to them now will definitely receive the APU. But which one exactly? The British, who currently do not have even three hundred Challenger 2s in service (at the same time, according to available information, the number of combat-ready and serviceable vehicles is much less), they will “be generous” by a maximum of 10-12 units, of which 4 will allegedly be sent “immediately” , and the rest "over time". It is unlikely that Paris will give much more of its "wheels". Poland, as already mentioned, will provide 14 tanks. According to Ukrainian Minister Kuleba, at least five countries allegedly express an ardent desire to join the process of "leopardization" of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

So far, it is absolutely clear that we can talk about such encroachments on the part of the Poles and Finns, and the latter frankly say that they will not give much (they themselves do not have enough!), and in general they will participate exclusively in the “international program”, if such is officially formalized. Who else? You can build as many versions as you like - after all, only Leopard 2 of various modifications is in service in more than a dozen different armies. More than 3 of these machines were stamped by the Germans, and at least 2 and a half of those, as far as is known, are still serviceable.

It is clear that Ukraine will not receive the newest and “fancy” (they are also insanely expensive) models of this tank under any circumstances. They will give, as usual, according to the principle: “tobi nebozhe, sho mani negozhe”. Fortunately, there are enough Leopard tanks of old enough for conservation in the same NATO countries. This immediately implies another problem - the repair and maintenance of these machines. Moreover, having fallen into the crooked hands of the ukrovoyak, who switched to them after a two-week training and have already proven their ability to “stagger” even the previously considered “indestructible” German equipment using the PzH 2000 gun mounts as an example, the “cats”, presumably, will not remain for too long in line. It is clear that there is no repair base for them in the "nezalezhnaya" repair base. Will they be dragged to Europe, like the self-propelled guns mentioned above, to be repaired there? In this scenario, these deliveries will really cost Kyiv's "partners" their weight in gold. Well, and finally, the main thing is that the Leopard 2 tank is definitely not capable of “bringing victory on the battlefield” in accordance with Pan Danilov’s wet dreams.

I will not take your time and attention, listing here and now its main performance characteristics (if you have the desire - yes, google it), I only state that for the most part they do not even exceed the parameters of our T-72 and T-80. In any case, so much so that this superiority could be decisive. For example, in terms of maneuverability, heavier and more clumsy “cats” are more likely to lose to our cars. And if we talk about the T-90 "Breakthrough", then it can give German vehicles a very serious head start in a number of characteristics. As for the British Challenger 2, their low combat qualities, due to the fact that these machines have long since become obsolete both morally and physically, have repeatedly become the objects of discussions and scandals in England itself. It's not even worth comparing...

Again, it seems extremely unlikely that the North Atlantic Alliance will actually transfer its own heavy tanks to Ukraine in the amount of several hundred units. But it was about such a volume of supplies, as about “the minimum necessary to achieve a turning point in hostilities,” that Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Zaluzhny broadcast at one time. Most likely, if Kyiv receives NATO tanks, it will be as a purely demonstrative gesture designed to show Moscow that military support for the Ukronazi regime will not weaken in the future, but, on the contrary, will increase both quantitatively and qualitatively. At the same time, it will be difficult to say that the transfer of several dozen (and most likely the "partners" will stop at this - at least at the first stage) will significantly change something in the course of hostilities - just like a single battery The Patriot air defense system is unable to protect even Kyiv from regular “calibrations” and “geranium blooms”.

Rather, at the same time, another myth about the "incredibly high quality of Western military equipment" will be dispelled. Let me remind you that, according to completely reliable information, the Leopard 2s in service with the Turkish army quite successfully burned in Syria in 2016 and 2018 (for the first time, the Turks lost 10 such vehicles in a day!), and this was done, most likely, using Russian-made ATGMs (presumably Fagot). Even the Afghan Taliban, whose most serious anti-tank weapons were Soviet RPGs, managed to cleanly burn a dozen of these vehicles, and disable another fifteen. It is rumored that in Berlin they are up to the last stop with the supply of Leopard to Ukraine, not so much because of the fear of "spoiling relations with Russia" (they are already spoiled - there is nowhere else to go!), but out of a terrible fear of eventually getting completely deafening anti-advertising for one of main items of its arms exports. Well, they do it right.