Germany offers Greece to give its 100 Leopards to Ukraine and give Athens more modern tanks in return
Germany has offered Greece to transfer its 100 Leopard 1A5 tanks to Ukraine, and in return receive similar but modernized vehicles. At the same time, Berlin will bear the costs of overhauling and improving these armored vehicles.
Source. This was reported by Flight.
The exchange scheme is to include 96 Leopard 1A5s owned by the Swiss defense company RUAG, which it bought from Italy. Earlier, the Swiss Federal Council banned the concern from selling them to Ukraine, as this contradicts its “neutrality policy.”
To solve the problem, Germany wants to buy these tanks from RUAG and hand them over to Greece after modernization. In particular, they will be equipped with a new thermal imaging periscope used in Leopard 2, as well as more modern armor. In return, Greece will give its old tanks to Ukraine on a one-for-one basis.
Earlier, Athens had already supplied the Ukrainian Armed Forces with BMP-1 under a similar scheme. Then Greece received German Marder 1s. A trilateral exchange of tanks can also be carried out “if there is an official commitment from the German government on the basis of a letter of intent.”
It is up to Greece to decide which Leopard 1A5s will be selected for delivery to Ukraine, but the general requirement is that they must be in good working order.
It should be noted that Leopard 1A5s have not been modernized since they entered service in Greece more than 30 years ago, and some parts of them are already outdated, such as the thermal imaging periscope, which has not been supported by the manufacturer for many years.
Earlier, the German defense concern Rheinmetall bought 50 Leopard 1s from Belgium, and at least 30 of them are to be transferred to the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
