This file photo taken on May 20, 2019 shows soldiers on a Leopard 2 A7 main battle tank of the German armed forces Bundeswehr driving during an educational practice of the "Very High Readiness Joint Task Force" (VJTF) as part of the NATO tank unit at the military training area in Munster, northern Germany. (Photo by PATRIK STOLLARZ / AFP)
Berlin: Germany, Denmark and the Netherlands will supply Ukraine with 178 older generation Leopard 1 battle tanks, according to people familiar with the decision.
The joint initiative is the latest shipment of heavy military equipment for the government in Kiev ahead of an expected intensification of fighting with invading Russian forces in coming weeks.
German public broadcaster ZDF quoted Defense Minister Boris Pistorius as saying that the government in Berlin had "agreed to supply a large contingent of Leopard A1s with a group of various European countries.”
The delivery would be made in stages, with "about 20, 25” to arrive by the European summer and more than 100 by early next year, ZDF quoted Pistorius as saying during a visit to Kiev.
The Leopard 1, which is no longer in production, was West Germany’s primary main battle tank in the 1960s and 1970s until it was succeeded by the more lethal Leopard 2. Last month, Germany and its allies pledged to supply Ukraine with more than a hundred Leopard 2s.
German government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit said last week that Germany had given the green light for the export of Leopard 1s to Ukraine. He declined to give further details on the number of tanks or when they will be handed over.
