The leopard loses its color in order to survive – lime, chalk and bedsheets keep the veteran German tank in battle in front of Avdiivka.
Awdiijwka – “The Screwdriver” remembers his time as a mountain soldier in Grafenwöhr with mixed feelings. In winter and summer, his MAN truck had to be recamouflaged, as the former soldier wrote humorously in a forum for military vehicles: “We had to paint the vehicles with chalk. There was no specific scheme. Just painted spots on it. The stuff was very difficult to get back down. It was always a fight for the only high-pressure jet in the battery.”
In Ukraine, too, combat vehicles and tanks are now being recamouflaged to protect the defenders' chances against Vladimir Putin's troops – the Leopard 1A is being readied for front-line operations against Russia in the winter. A total of around 200 of the veteran Bundeswehr tanks are expected to roll to the front in Ukraine. The color adjustment to the surroundings as well as the retrofitting of the somewhat decrepit armor should make it competitive in order to fight for victory for Ukraine.
The onset of winter worsens the situation on the front lines of the Ukrainian war. In the white months, lime is in demand in the military; or white sheets to color the obligatory shade of green seasonally and make the steel colossus on the battlefield almost disappear.
The Bundeswehr has been rolling into combat sporadically since the mid-1980s. Bronze green – RAL 6031 – forms the base color. Tar black RAL 9021 – and leather brown – RAL 8027 – are applied in patches – with transitions that can vary in sharpness and even very blurred lines; This camouflage scheme includes clothing as well as large equipment, such as tanks; including those that have now been delivered to Ukraine from the Bundeswehr or the Dutch armed forces. The black spots are painted over white in winter.
By the end of November 2023, Germany had delivered 30 Leopard 1 tanks to Ukraine, with another 80 to follow. Denmark and the Netherlands plan to deliver 85 more. According to the US business magazine Forbes However, many of the tanks are said to have been in poor condition. That's why most of the Leopard tanks, which are over 40 years old, are still being refurbished. The German defense companies Rheinmetall and Krauss-Maffei Wegmann (KMW) are in the process of overhauling and modernizing Leopard 1 tanks. For example, they lack reactive armor, which uses small tiles to neutralize the impact of projectiles before they penetrate the actual armor steel. The camouflage causes the contours in the cover to dissolve and the tanks are harder to target for opponents.
Ukrainian defenders: new camouflage clothing against Russian attackers
The Bundeswehr's camouflage scheme is largely coordinated with the patterns of the other NATO partners, who camouflage individually; from small pixel-like spots to larger colored areas; Geographical and strategic reasons lead to the individual patterns, based on the dense forests of Scandinavia or the rugged mountain ranges of the Balkans. These patterns are tailored to provide tactical advantages in specific geographic regions and ensure soldiers and vehicles can remain concealed and operate efficiently during their missions.
The Ukrainian Armed Forces have been using a pixelated camouflage pattern for drylands and deserts since 2014. This pattern mixes brown, khaki and light olive areas on a sand colored background. In some Ukrainian sources it is referred to as MM-14 and is seen as a development of the German spotted camouflage scheme.
MM-14 is the Ukrainian abbreviation for “Camouflage Pattern 14”, meaning the year of introduction, in this case the year of the annexation of Crimea by Russia. The camouflage pattern of the clothing is much more detailed than that of NATO countries. Ukraine assumes that the pixelated representation generated on the computer will achieve a greater mixing of colors and thus improve camouflage performance in the field. The current camouflage of the large devices is still based on NATO standards.
Avdiivka: Putin's troops four times superior
The official German military camouflage pattern, known as “Flecktarn,” features small, speckled spots in a mix of green, black, brown and reddish-brown on a light green background. This pattern was designed to provide effective camouflage in temperate forest areas. The Flecktarn, introduced in the 1990s, is the standard camouflage of the Bundeswehr and impresses with its distinctive dotted appearance. However, the rule now applies that only devices that can be used close to the front are “spotted”. Supply and support vehicles, which primarily operate in the stage, are painted in a solid bronze-green color.
Like David Ax for Forbes writes, Ukraine has high hopes for the armada of West German tanks. “Camouflaged and highly armored, the Leopard 1s would meet the growing need for mobile fire support along critical sections of the 600-mile front of Russia's now 23-month-long war against Ukraine. Especially around Avdiijwka. There in Avdiivka, the equivalent of a Ukrainian division – half a dozen mechanized brigades and tank brigades – has been fighting bitterly through mobile defense since mid-October against a much larger force, including two Russian field armies. Forbes estimates the balance of forces at perhaps 10,000 Ukrainian soldiers versus 40,000 Russians.
A year ago in February, the decision was made that Ukraine would receive vehicles from NATO stocks. The predecessors of the currently widely used NATO Leopard 2 tank have been decommissioned in the West for decades. They were reactivated against the background of increasing Ukraine's defense capability against Russia. The Leopard 1 has a different role than
its successor, the Leopard 2, as military historian Ralf Raths told the German wave explains: The old Leopard main battle tank could protect Ukrainian soldiers in direct combat. The director of the German Tank Museum in Munster explains that a decisive role in the liberation of further areas occupied by Vladimir Putin's invasion army, i.e. in the breakthrough, is only attributed to the Leopard 2.
Leopard: The defenders' hope
On Bundeswehr.de An anonymous Ukrainian tank driver reports on his first encounter with the German device: “The Leopard 1 A5 is much more maneuverable than our T-72.” In addition, its controls make it easier to handle and also faster, even though the two main battle tanks are from the same time come. The soldier brings a lot of experience from his unit and is battle-tested. That's why he was chosen to switch to the Leopard.
Avdiivka appears to be, according to the ZDF continues to be fiercely contested. In December, the Russian forces had probably managed to advance further within the city. They advanced both west-southwest of the city near Vodiane and northwest near Stepove – there they crossed a railway line that probably formed an important Ukrainian defensive position. Loud ZDF The Russian pincer movement around Avdiivka seems to be gradually closing at the moment. During the fighting, the Ukrainians are said to have increasingly relied on Leopard 2, i.e. they were on the attack and tried to push the pincers apart again.
The Russian army appears to have suffered extreme losses around Avdiivka – according to various media reports, 18,000 to 20,000 soldiers and around 250 armored vehicles – including tanks, armored personnel carriers and transport vehicles. The city has been besieged by Russian troops since October and is definitely due to be taken for prestige reasons.
By switching to winter camouflage, Ukraine is increasing its survivability against Russian aggression through increased artillery fire – as military analyst Franz-Stefan Gady from Institute for International Strategic Studies (IISS) in the ZDF – Gady expresses concern about the extent to which the Ukrainian troops can avoid encirclement or build a new defensive line outside the city: “The psychological pressure on the individual soldier is enormous.” (kahin)
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