Germany to greenlight defense companies to supply Leopard 1 tanks to Ukraine
Leopard tank (Photo:REUTERS/Bernadett Szabo)
The German government is expected to issue a permit to the Rheinmetall defense concern and the Flensburger Fahrzeugbau Gesellschaft (FFG) mbH company for the supply of 187 Leopard 1 tanks to Ukraine, media say.
The Business Insider media outlet reported on Feb. 7, with reference to a source, that Rheinmetall will reportedly transfer 88 tanks to Ukraine, while another 99 will come from FFG.
At the same time, Ukraine will receive the first tanks no earlier than the middle of this year. Their exact number has not been specified.
According to Business Insider, many Leopard 1 tanks require repair and it is not clear whether it is possible to use the entire batch on the battlefield, or whether part of the equipment will be used for spare parts.
After weeks of hesitation, Germany on Jan. 25 approved the transfer of 14 Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine and their re-export from partner countries. On the same day, the United States announced the future deployment of U.S. 31 Abrams main battle tanks to Ukraine.
German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius later said that the first Western tanks could be sent to Ukraine by the end of March.
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