US encourages German government to deliver Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine.

According to information published on the German Newspaper website "Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung" on December 7, 2022, the United States encouraged the Government of Germany to deliver modern German-made Leopard 2 Main Battle Tanks (MBTs) to Ukraine.
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German army Leopard 2A5 main battle tank. (Picture source Army Recognition)

Citing information published on the German "Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung" newspaper website, President Biden's security advisor, Jake Sullivan, has encouraged Germany to supply Ukraine with Leopard 2 Main Battle Tanks (MBTs).

On October 28, 2022, Ukrainian Ambassador to Germany Oleksii Makeiev said during an interview published by the Ukrainian news website LIGA, that Germany will eventually transfer Leopard 2 MBTs to the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

To this day Germany has always refused to deliver tanks to Ukraine, despite numerous requests from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. The Ukrainian ambassador in Germany is confident that Germany will be ready to take a decision for the supply of armored vehicles and tanks to Ukraine.

In recent weeks, Germany announced the delivery of military equipment, weapons and light armored vehicles to Ukraine as well as multiple launch rocket systems, self-propelled howitzers, man-portable air defense systems, and air defense missile systems.

Citing information from defense companies Rheinmetall and Krauss-Maffei Wegmann, Germany can quickly provide 80 Leopard 2 tanks and another batch of 30 tanks which are used by the Bundeswehr's combat training center.

According to the Military Balance report 2021, currently, the German army has a total of 245 MBTs including 225 Leopard 2A5 / A6, 19 Leopard 2A7, an undisclosed number of Leopard 2A7V, and 78 Leopard 2A4 in store.

The Leopard 2 is one of the most modern main battle tanks in the world and is in service in many countries including Austria, Canada, Chile, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Indonesia, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and Turkey.

Recently Slovakia and the Czech Republic have signed an agreement with the German government to replace old Soviet-made tracked IFVs (Infantry Fighting Vehicles) and T-72 tanks with German-made Leopard 2A4.

The Leopard 2 is the 3rd generation of German-made main battle tanks originally developed by Krauss-Maffei in the 1970s for the German army. Since entering service in 1970, the Leopard has undergone numerous upgrades and modernizations from the Leopard 2A4 version to the latest 2A7 version.

The Leopard 2 is armed with a 120 mm smoothbore cannon able to fire at a range of up to 5,000 m. The tank is also fitted with the latest generation of Western armor providing protection against both kinetic and chemical energy attacks.