[War & Business] Four Months to Send Tanks... The Stark Reality of European Security

Even Supplying 100 Tanks, Just 4% of Total, Faces Hurdles
Stored Away Without Training Since the Cold War... Engines Out of Order

At the end of last month, it was announced that more than 100 Leopard 2 tanks would be sent to Ukraine from Germany and various European countries, but it is known that no country has specified concrete delivery dates. Even Germany, which pledged to send 14 tanks, only stated that it would take at least four months or more.

Looking at the numbers alone, it might seem that gathering 100 tanks to send to Ukraine from European countries would not require such a long time. According to the military strength figures announced by each country's defense ministry, there are about 2,300 Leopard 2 tanks remaining only in NATO member countries within Europe, most of which are deployed in active service. The 100 tanks represent only about 4% of this total.

On the 1st (local time), Boris Pistorius, Germany's Minister of Defense, visited the 203rd Armored Battalion of the German Bundeswehr in Augustdorf, where he personally rode a Leopard 2 tank to be sent in support of Ukraine and tested its performance. Augustdorf = Reuters·Yonhap News

However, the reality is completely different. It is expected to be very difficult to find even 100 tanks that can be immediately repaired and literally put into operation, let alone those with combat capability. Although the Leopard 2 tank is considered one of the world's strongest tanks along with the U.S. M-1 Abrams, the majority have been left unused in warehouses for over 30 years since the end of the Cold War, with engines that have become unusable.

When the Leopard 2 tank was first introduced in 1979, European countries imported more than 3,500 units due to security concerns over the expansion of the former Soviet Union and the communist bloc. However, starting right after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, most Leopard 2 tanks became military assets that existed only on paper amid disarmament movements.

This is also why European countries could not mock the Russian army, which brought former Soviet T-72 tanks last March. The Russian army continued to maintain and use the T-72, which was deployed in 1973, for active training, so they were able to bring them to the battlefield. However, among European countries, almost none have conducted large-scale active training independently using Leopard 2 tanks since the Cold War.

In fact, Spain, which had declared in June last year that it would send 20 Leopard 2 tanks independently of Germany and NATO, soon withdrew its support. In this recent support effort, Spain only announced it would send two tanks first. Major foreign media, including the UK’s The Guardian, reported the disheartening reality that when tanks covered in dust in military warehouses were actually taken out, almost none were in a condition that could be repaired.

The so-called ‘collective security’ emphasized by European countries for decades, centered on the European Union (EU) and NATO, has been exposed in its true form. Europe is paying a heavy price for believing in the rosy prospect that there would be no more conventional wars and continuing disarmament for over 30 years.

There is also analysis that the reason the United States proactively announced support for M-1 Abrams tanks was to induce European support and reorganize the collective security system. If support for heavy weapons like tanks continues for several months, the military supply system to Ukraine will be strengthened, and maintenance and replacement of aging weapons will follow, leading to some improvement in the military capabilities of European forces.