Germany nearing dispatching Leopard tanks to Ukraine, CNN reports
Tank Leopard 2 (Photo:REUTERS/Benjamin Westhoff)
Ukrainian tank crews have almost finished training to operate and maintain Leopard-2 main battle tanks, meaning that soon Germany will be able to send them to Ukraine, CNN reported on March 14, citing a Bundeswehr official.
A spokesman for the German army said the Ukrainian soldiers were "highly motivated" and utilized their five week of training "more than effectively."
According to him, the soldiers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine have been training between 12 and 14 hours a day, six days a week, for the past five weeks. The German military official specified that the Ukrainians were trained as tank drivers, gunners, technicians, commanders, and maintenance personnel.
By March 13, the soldiers completed their final shooting drills, achieving a 82-85% accuracy rate.
“This is a super result,” he said, adding that training in gunnery on a simulator significantly speed up the training process.
On Jan. 25, after much hesitation, Germany approved the transfer of 14 Leopard-2 tanks to Ukraine and permitted their re-export from partner countries. On Feb. 24, the German government announced that it would transfer four more Leopard tanks, to bring the total to 18 vehicles.
On Feb. 13, training of the Ukrainian crews on the Leopard 2A5 tanks began. The exercises took place mainly at a panzer school in Münster, Lower Saxony.
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