Ukraine can possibly get their hands on some German Leopard 1 Main Battle Tanks as Rheinmetall’s chief executive Armin Papperger expressed that the company was ready to provide 50 Leopard 1 tanks to the Ukrainian Armed Forces. If approved by the German Government, it could take just 6 weeks before it would be delivered.

According to Papperger last Monday in an interview with Germany’s Handelsblatt business newspaper, the 1st batch of the decommissioned tanks could be delivered in 6 weeks, with the rest of the tanks to follow in three months. The transfer would also involve the company’s subsidiary, Rheinmetall Italia.

These tanks were returned to Germany by countries that previously used the tanks and are not currently used by the German Armed Forces as the Bundeswehr uses the Leopard 2.

However, some German politicians have said that it would take too long for the Ukrainian Armed Forces to be trained to use Western munitions and argued that it was better to send equipment they could already operate. These politicians do have a point, as the Russian forces are already seen to be setting up their invasion in the eastern region of Donbas.

“You have to be trained a bit more intensively on the Leopard 1. But if the Ukrainians want the tank, a way should be found,” Defense policy spokesperson for the Free Democrats’ parliamentary group Marcus Faber said.

On the other hand, there are also German politicians who are quite open to the delivery of the Cold-war era Leopard tanks. This coalition includes their Social Democrats, the Greens, and Free Democrats.

The plan was also endorsed by senior members of the Green party, Vice-Chancellor and Economy Minister Robert Habeck, and Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, which said that the deal could involve as many as 100 tanks.

U.S. Army Paratroopers assigned to the 54th Brigade Engineer Battalion, 173rd Airborne Brigade, and Italian Army, practice operating the MBT Leopard 1 by digging trenches at a dig site at CORMOR training area, Udine, Italy, Dec. 09, 2020. The 173rd Airborne Brigade is the U.S. Army Contingency Response Force in Europe, capable of projecting ready forces anywhere in the U.S. European, Africa or Central Commands' areas of responsibility. (DVIDS, U.S. Army Photos by Paolo Bovo). Source: https://www.dvidshub.net/image/6449401/engineer-digging-exercise
U.S. Army Paratroopers assigned to the 54th Brigade Engineer Battalion, 173rd Airborne Brigade, and Italian Army practice operating the MBT Leopard 1 by digging trenches at a dig site at CORMOR training area, Udine, Italy, Dec. 09, 2020. The 173rd Airborne Brigade is the U.S. Army Contingency Response Force in Europe, capable of projecting ready forces anywhere in the U.S. European, Africa, or Central Commands’ areas of responsibility. (DVIDS, U.S. Army Photos by Paolo Bovo).

In response to some of the skepticism on whether the Ukrainians could learn and use the German-made tanks, Papperger said that it was no problem and that Ukrainian soldiers who had prior experience could be trained in a matter of days.