Copyright © 2021 Euromaidanpress.com

The work of Euromaidan Press is supported by the International Renaissance Foundation

When referencing our materials, please include an active hyperlink to the Euromaidan Press material and a maximum 500-character extract of the story. To reprint anything longer, written permission must be acquired from [email protected].

Privacy and Cookie Policies.

Germany approves Leopard 1 delivery to Ukraine, wants purchase back Gepards from Qatar for Ukraine – media

The German army’s Leopard 1A5 at the 2015 military day in Uffenheim, Germany. File photo: Rainer Lippert/Wikimedia Commons

The German government has approved the delivery of Leopard 1 tanks to Ukraine from industrial stocks and is in talks over purchasing back 15 Leopard-1-based Flakpanzer Gepard anti-aircraft guns from Qatar for Ukraine, according to Süddeutsche Zeitung citing government sources, Reuters reports.

The Leopard tanks can be delivered to Ukraine anytime once they are repaired. Meanwhile, the companies Rheinmetall and Flensburger Fahrzeugbau Gesellschaft (FFG) want to recondition dozens of Leopards 1 tanks and could supply them to Ukraine if Kyiv was willing to buy them, Süddeutsche Zeitung wrote.

Back in April 2022, Rheinmetall chief executive Armin Papperger told Germany’s Handelsblatt business newspaper that the company was ready to deliver 50 Leopard 1 tanks to Ukraine if Germany approves such a transfer.

Also, several German officials discussed with Qatar’s foreign ministry a possible purchase of 15 Gepard tanks that Doha had bought to secure the World Cup stadiums, Süddeutsche Zeitung said.

The Leopard 1 is an older version of the Leopard 2 tank that is still in military service in Greece, Türkiye, Brazil, and Chile.

Ukraine already operates up to four types of vehicles based on the Leopard 1 platform. Those in operation or promised to be supplied are the Gepard self-propelled anti-aircraft guns, the Bergepanzer 2 ARV armored recovery vehicles, the Dachs engineering vehicles, and the Biber bridge layers.

Before the German recent approval of tank supplies to Ukraine, Ukrainian officials stated that 12 counties were ready to send about 100 newer Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine.

Read also:

You could close this page. Or you could join our community and help us produce more materials like this.  We keep our reporting open and accessible to everyone because we believe in the power of free information. This is why our small, cost-effective team depends on the support of readers like you to bring deliver timely news, quality analysis, and on-the-ground reports about Russia's war against Ukraine and Ukraine's struggle to build a democratic society. A little bit goes a long way: for as little as the cost of one cup of coffee a month, you can help build bridges between Ukraine and the rest of the world, plus become a co-creator and vote for topics we should cover next. Become a patron or see other ways to support. Become a Patron!
Total
0
Shares
Related Posts