The first Leopard 1A5 main battle tanks for the Ukraine are about to be overhauled at FFG Flensburger Fahrzeugbau and are to be used for the training of Ukrainian soldiers in the next few weeks. Acting Danish Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen, together with a parliamentary delegation, visited the workshops of the general contractor for the repairs, FFG, on April 14 to see the status of the work.
Poulsen called the milestone of the project "the further delivery of tanks for two battalions - the equivalent of about 80 tanks - in the coming months".
In February, the defense ministers of Denmark, Germany and the Netherlands announced the joint delivery of at least 100 Leopard 1A5 main battle tanks, including the necessary logistical support and training, to Ukraine (ESuTreported). The export license for up to 178 Leopard 1A5s has been available since the beginning of February.
According to a report in the daily newspaper "Der Nordschleswiger", the FFG acquired and stored 99 Leopard 1A5 main battle tanks from the Danish armed forces in 2010. These are now being cleaned and overhauled. The hulls are processed at FFG, as shown in a picture published by the Danish Ministry of Defense. The work on the towers takes place in Munich. Only the manufacturer of the Leopard 1, Krauss-Maffei Wegmann, comes into question. At the end, the tanks are completed at FFG and sent after an initial inspection (see title picture).
As "Der Nordschleswiger" continues to write, the Danish government is willing to invest around 960 million crowns (equivalent to 130 million euros) to make the tanks operational. In addition to the preparation of the tanks, the costs include the expenses for transport, spare parts, ammunition and the training of the Ukrainian crews and repairers. Nothing is publicly known about the extent of the financial participation of Germany and the Netherlands. The Leopard 1A5 is not listed on the BMVg's list of military support services.
Gerhard Heiming
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