Ukrainian soldiers have been trained on the Leopard 2 tank at the NATO training ground in Bergen. In March the comrades are going back to the front.
Bergen – For six weeks they practiced firefighting with Leopard 2 main battle tanks. Attack and retreat tested by the enemy. Off-road and also in the dark. Then they could test the night equipment of the weapon system. Deep detonations could be heard as the tanks fired their tracer rounds at targets up to two kilometers away. The Ukrainian soldiers at the NATO training ground in Bergen in Lower Saxony received a tank crash course. After intensive training in Germany, they are now ready for action with the Leopard 2 main battle tank. They will return to the front in March.
The German instructors emphasize that the soldiers from Ukraine have mastered the weapon system. They were not only motivated to learn how to use the Leopard 2 main battle tanks. But they also proved to be very capable. Tank commander Jörg Junker praised spiegel.de the high hit rate of his students “of well over 80 percent. In the short time, that is remarkable.”
Brigadier General: Everything has been done to train the Ukrainian soldiers on the Leopard 2 as best as possible
Everything had been done to train the Ukrainian soldiers on the Leopard 2 as best as possible, emphasized Brigadier General Björn Schulz, commander of the Bundeswehr Armored Forces School. The framework conditions in the Ukraine war would not have allowed for more. Schulz is not indifferent to what lies ahead for his Panzer students. “You are returning to a terribly brutal war,” he told the German Press Agency. “We have to assume that some comrades will fall or be badly wounded. That hurts us too.”
Schulz now sees the Ukrainian soldiers as well equipped for the fight at the front against the Russian troops. The Leopard 2 tank is considered to be the best and most accurate weapon system in the western tank arsenal. “It’s actually the most modern main battle tank we have to offer,” said the brigadier general. After exercises on the simulator, combat training in the field and so-called school shooting, the Ukrainian tank students were allowed to try their hand at combat shooting with live ammunition at the end of their training. “That’s the very high school,” said Schulz.
For handling the Leopard 2: Spain also gives Ukrainian soldiers a course
On February 24, the first anniversary of the Ukraine war, the German government announced that it would deliver 18 Leopard 2A6 tanks to Ukraine instead of the previously announced 14 Leopard 2A6 tanks. This is part of international military aid the West wants to use to help Ukraine defend itself against Russia. The main participants in the initiative are Poland, Norway, Canada and Spain. Poland delivered the first four western main battle tanks – of the older Leopard 2A4 type – to Ukraine in February.
Video: Federal Defense Minister Pistorius: Leopard 2 main battle tanks are to come this month
Spain also announced the delivery of six Leopard 2A4 tanks in February. Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez later announced the delivery of four more tanks. Just like in Lower Saxony, Ukrainian soldiers have their training on the Leopard A2 in Spain this week. A total of 55 Ukrainian soldiers completed a four-week course at the training center in Zaragoza, Ukrainian media reported, citing the Defense Ministry in Madrid.
Efficient weapon system: Leopard 2 should help Ukraine in defense
At the moment, Russia is fighting in the Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine for the city of Bakhmut. The situation is tense. Mercenaries from the Russian private army “Group Wagner” and the Russian army have been fighting to take the city for months. Ukraine withstood the attacks. “Kiev will not withdraw its troops,” said Denis Puschilin, head of the self-proclaimed and internationally unrecognized Donetsk People’s Republic. The battles resulted in significant casualties on both sides.
The promised Western Leopard 2 tanks will help Ukraine defend itself. “The Ukrainians are facing the most dangerous phase of the war,” said French Vice Admiral Hervé Bléjean, Director General of the EU training mission, who traveled to Bergen to the German Press Agency. “They are now in a defensive position and they are facing more than 300,000 Russian soldiers.” They may not be the best trained soldiers, but the Ukrainians are now facing a “tsunami of soldiers”, Bléjean continued. (kb)
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