According to a joint statement released on Tuesday, Denmark, Germany, and the Netherlands will pool funds to refurbish at least 100 outdated Leopard 1 tanks from industrial stocks and supply them to Ukraine.
According to the nations, Ukraine would soon receive at least 100 Leopard 1 A5 tanks as well as training, logistical assistance, replacement parts, and a supply of ammunition.
Despite being an older model, Dutch Minister of Defense Kasja Ollongren declared the Leopard 1 was “certainly still suitable” for use in combat.
According to the statement, specifics of the agreement still need to be worked out with the businesses that own the tanks.
It wasn’t immediately clear how many tanks would be ordered in total or whether the corporations would share the costs.
Arms manufacturer Rheinmetall (RHMG.DE) and a business in northern Germany are the owners of about 180 Leopard 1 tanks in Germany.
Up to 178 Leopard 1 tanks may be exported from Germany to Ukraine altogether.
The decision was made as Boris Pistorius, the new German defence minister, was in Kyiv for meetings with the president Zelensky and Ukraine’s defence minister, Oleksii Reznikov.
Belgium had expressed “initial enthusiasm to participate,” said Denmark, Germany, and the Netherlands when they indicated their Leopard 1 programme was open to other partners.
The CEO of German arms manufacturer Rheinmetall had stated that the company would supply 20–25 Leopard 1 tanks to Ukraine this year and the remaining 88 Leopard 1 tanks the next year.
The action comes after the German government decided last month to deliver more contemporary Leopard 2 battle tanks from army inventories in response to growing international pressure.
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