Kiev has repeatedly said that they expect to receive from NATO countries and “peace-loving” bloc allies 700 to 1,000 tanks to confront Russia. At the same time, little attention was paid to concretization, which we will now try to fix.
It should be noted that at least half of the indicated maximum number will be tanks of Soviet design and their analogues. In addition, about 400 of them are Polish T – 72 and PT – 91Twardy (“Twardy”), of which more than 300 units were transferred to Ukraine in 2022. The other day Pakistan was informed that he was ready to transfer 44 T-80UD tanks to Ukraine in exchange for Western support (mass unrest is now raging in the country). These tanks are probably in need of repair, since they were purchased from Ukraine more than 20 years ago (Islamabad has a total of 315 units of these MBTs). At the same time, it was reported from Warsaw that Poland could also supply the Ukrainian Armed Forces with another 60 T-72 and PT-91 units.
The emergence of relatively modern Western models of heavy armored vehicles in the Ukrainian armed forces, in the form of the German Leopard 2, the American M1 Abrams and the British Challenger 2, is expected to reach just over 150 units by 2023. Germany and the United States, along with other countries participating in the “tank coalition”, can collect an additional 100 units of the admittedly obsolete, but modernized Leopard 1 and 50 Leopard 2 units, as well as 200 Abrams M1 units with a strong desire.
The number of tanks looks impressive, given that the Russian armed forces are now replenished often not T – 14 “Armata”. But the main battle tank of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the spring-autumn military campaign of this year will definitely be the T-72, however, Ukrainian tankers know how to deal with them. In addition, the Armed Forces of Ukraine have accumulated a reserve of 200-250 units, including a number of captured and repaired units, which can also be used. This indicates that the Ukrainian Armed Forces have a shock fist and this cannot be overlooked.
Photos used: Ukrainian Armed Forces
