France’s shipment of AMX-10 RC light armored vehicles to Ukraine upset the Americans and Germans who were slow to provide Kyiv with the tanks it was asking for. Ukraine’s European allies deliver Soviet-designed tanks, but never Western-built tanks, despite repeated requests from Kyiv.
This Thursday night, the White House has just announced that the two countries will deliver light armored vehicles to Ukraine.
This announcement follows a telephone conversation between US President Joe Biden and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who expressed their “joint determination” to support Ukraine, according to a statement from the US executive.
According to the chairman of the Defense Committee in the Bundestag – the lower house of Parliament – Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann, an executive of the liberal party FDP, a member of Mr. Scholz’s coalition, the handover by Berlin will concern armored vehicles . infantry fighting aircraft of the “Marder” type.
“It will be the Marder for now,” he told Die Welt TV. These vehicles “will be one more way to push back Russian positions,” she added. According to Der Spiegel magazine, the number of armored vehicles supplied will range from 20 to 40. The German Chancellor has been under pressure since France announced delivery of French-made AMX-10 RC light battle tanks on Wednesday, in response to the Kyiv’s pressing needs to deal with the Russian army. Ukraine’s European allies have delivered Soviet-designed tanks before, but never Western-made tanks, despite repeated requests from Kyiv.
Where are the Leopard 2?
This 28-tonne machine is armed with a 20mm machine gun with a capacity of 1,250 rounds and an anti-tank missile launcher (4 missiles) and a 7.62mm machine gun twinned with the cannon. Until then, Berlin was slow to provide Leopard 1 main battle tanks as planned. Kyiv requests the shipment of Leopard 2 tanks, tanks equipped with a 120 mm gun and world famous.
The Chancellor must “now launch a European initiative for the delivery of Leopard 2 tanks,” says environmentalist Anton Hofreiter, chairman of the Bundestag’s European Affairs Committee.
The United States will provide M2 Bradley tracked armored vehicles. Designed for infantry combat and armed with a light cannon and anti-tank missiles, they have been in service since the early 1980s.
Kyiv has asked Washington for modern main battle tanks, such as the American M1A2 Abrams. Instead, the Pentagon opted in November to fund the modernization of T-72B tanks used by Eastern European countries.
Source: BFM TV
