Is the tank logistics nightmare getting worse?

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The West supports Ukraine where it can. After a lot of back and forth also with many different tanks. These include the Leopard-2, Challenger-2 and Abrams M1 – as well as the Marder and Bradley infantry fighting vehicles.

And that’s not all: according to the “Handelsblatt”, the German arms group Rheinmetall has offered Ukraine to buy its new tank, the Panther KF51. The company’s CEO, Armin Papperger, 60, told Handelsblatt that the Panther could be delivered to Ukraine “in 15 to 18 months”.

According to reports, Rheinmetall is even negotiating with Ukraine to build a tank plant in Ukraine. Up to 400 Panther main battle tanks could be produced there annually.

It is light, but not so heavily armored

The tank’s hull is inspired by the Leopard-2, but the turret is very different and incorporates Rheinmetall’s next-generation Future Gun System, a 130mm smoothbore gun that replaces the standard 120mm gun found on Western tanks such as replaced the Abrams M1, Leopard-2 and Challenger-2.

Rheinmetall presented the Panther at a trade fair last summer, praising it “as the strongest main battle tank in the world”, according to the “Handelsblatt”. Two aspects of the KF51 are particularly noteworthy. One is the autoloader, which replaces the crew member who loads the shells into the main gun, giving the tank a crew of three instead of the usual four on western tanks.

And like the next-generation Abrams tank, the Panther’s turret can be unmanned, with the crew piloting the vehicle from behind the tank’s thicker armor. However, the tank has one drawback – due to its lightness, it does not have such thick armor as other tanks of the same caliber.

Far too few tanks

Ukraine is actively supported with tanks. But the military needs more than the West can currently provide. Ukraine needs 600 to 800 tanks for a victory in the Ukraine war, the Rheinmetall boss stressed. To get the crowd together, construction of new tanks should start soon. “Even if Germany gave up all 300 Leopard 2 tanks available to the Bundeswehr, that would be far too few.”

Whether the decision to buy the KF15 is the right one is still open. On the other hand, for example, even the best new weapons often suffer from teething problems. If Ukraine is the first country to use the Panther, it will also be the first country to make the inevitable mistakes. With all the challenges Ukraine already faces, this is a gamble.

Moreover, the many different tanks are already a logistical nightmare for Ukraine. Since the many different systems are rarely compatible with each other, the soldiers must first be trained and the tanks delivered. These problems would only worsen with another new tank.

Source: Blick