Give Ukraine the tanks it needs, not a ‘petting zoo’

Excerpt

The first battalion of Leopard 2 main battle tanks could arrive in Ukraine in the first three or four months of this year, German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius said Wednesday. Berlin’s belated, yet laudable decision to permit the provision of Leopard tanks to Ukraine follows decisions by the United States and the United Kingdom to send tanks to Ukraine, too. That’s welcome news in Kyiv, which urgently needs Western tanks to defeat a renewed Russian offensive, retake occupied territory and replace losses of Ukraine’s Soviet-origin tanks.

The problem is that the West plans to send small quantities of four different types of Western tanks, thereby placing an onerous logistical burden on Kyiv.

Sending Ukraine a tank “petting zoo” — a wide variety of tanks in small numbers — will create a sustainment and logistical nightmare that will ultimately reduce Ukraine’s combat effectiveness. Instead, Western leaders should pick the Leopard 2 as the single tank to send, transfer the maximum quantities possible, and create a U.S.-led NATO-wide effort to provide Ukraine the ammunition and training necessary to operate and maintain the Leopard 2s.