Ukraine is reported to have rejected a consignment of Germany’s Leopard 1 tanks – on the grounds that they are technically flawed, and that Ukrainian engineers lack the skills and training to fix them.
Embarrassingly for Germany, this is the second time that Ukraine has turned its collective nose up at a delivery of German armour. When the first ten tanks – the advance guard of a total of 110 Leopard 1s that Berlin has agreed to supply to Kyiv – arrived in Ukraine, they too were found to be unsuitable for deployment on the front line. This despite the desperate need for armour to break through Russia’s defence lines resisting Ukraine’s vaunted counter offensive striking south towards the Sea of Azov.
Have German tank design and construction has become too complex and sophisticated for their own good?
German engineers who inspected the latest batch of Leopards destined for Ukraine in Poland have agreed that they need further work before they will be suitable for active service.
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