The supply of German and American tanks to Ukraine is likely to have a large impact on the composition of European Ground fleets and the associated Industry.
The dual decision of the German Chancellor – to authorize the re-export to Ukraine of a certain number of Leopard tanks held by third countries and deliver vehicles directly taken from the German fleet – marks the birth certificate of a true European coalition 🇪🇺
This is, unsurprisingly, centred on the « historic » club of European Leopard 2 users (confirmed: 🇩🇪 🇵🇱 🇪🇸; pending: 🇳🇴 🇳🇱 🇵🇹 🇫🇮 🇩🇰), which forms itself the heart of the “worldwide” user club (up to 15 countries and 2,000 units delivered).
The American President, for his part, confirmed his desire to transfer, in the long term, a minimum of 31 units of the M1 « Abrams » platform, allowing the German authorities to overcome their government blockage.
More discreetly, the American authorities would also have offered all the countries likely to deliver Leopard 2s to Ukraine to receive, as compensation, second-hand M1s from their own stocks.
Additionally, and more subtly, the American authorities would also have proposed to the European Member States to establish a “long-term industrial partnership”. Nonetheless, beyond the announcements, the contours and implementation of this initiative remain highly vague.
The combination of German and American initiatives, if carried out, has the potential to drastically modify the panorama and the composition of the fleet of combat tanks in Europe in the medium term.
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