[ad_1]
German arms producer Rheinmetall wouldn’t be capable to ship battle-ready Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine till 2024, the corporate’s chief govt mentioned.
Restore and refurbishment necessities imply it might take till the start of subsequent 12 months to ship the tanks, “even when the choice to ship our Leopard tanks to Kyiv got here tomorrow,” Rheinmetall CEO Armin Papperger advised the Bild am Sonntag newspaper.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz is but to decide on whether or not Germany will decide to sending the highly effective Leopard 2 battle tanks that Ukraine needs in an effort to step up its assaults in opposition to Russian invaders.
Rheinmetall has 22 Leopard 2 and 88 older Leopard 1 autos, Papperger mentioned. Germany has round 350 Leopard 2 tanks, however there are questions over what number of may very well be spared to ship to Ukraine, making protection trade shares of the tanks and the pace at which the autos will be made battle-ready vital elements.
Poland’s President Andrzej Duda mentioned this week that his nation would switch Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine and Finnish President Sauli Niinistö additionally indicated willingness to produce the battle tanks.
Germany, which manufactures the Leopard 2, has a key position because the autos have restrictions round re-exporting. However Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck mentioned Thursday that Berlin wouldn’t stand in the best way of allies that wished to ship the tanks to Ukraine — regardless that the German authorities itself has to date been hesitant to decide to such a step.
Stress on Berlin elevated on Saturday with the U.Ok.’s determination to ship 14 Challenger 2 battle tanks to Ukraine.
Papperger mentioned Rheinmetall couldn’t restore its Leopard tanks “and not using a a contract,” saying the price can be “a number of hundred million euros.”
[ad_2]
Source link