Germany has tried to tie the supply of Leopards to a wider coalition that would supply other tanks, including US Abrams – a tank viewed by experts as being less suitable for the war in Ukraine because of its heavy consumption of fuel. The supply of main battle tanks had been seen as problematic because of their much more obviously offensive capabilities. It prefers a multilateral approach on arms supply to Ukraine rather than being seen to be moving unilaterally.Īlthough Germany has supplied a large amount of equipment to Ukraine, including armoured cars, it has also been wrestling with its post-second world war tradition of anti-militarism. Germany’s position on sending heavy weaponry has been conflicted. Marines and other specialized forces also use some light tanks.Chart of Leopard 2 inventories of European and Nato countries Why the delay? Compared to older types MBTs are very heavy (Russian MBTS being about 40 tons and Western around 60 tons) with a 120 mm (Western) and 125 mm (Russian) calibre cannon and 2-3 machine guns. Most modern tanks are of the heavy or Main Battle Tank type, able to fight other tanks. Tanks have replaced the cavalry everywhere and do the things that soldiers on horseback did in the past. The tank is a major part of all large armies today. Combat engineers use special tank-based vehicles, for example minesweeper tanks or bridge-layer tanks. Old tanks are often modified for other uses like carrying soldiers or equipment. There had also been plans for much larger and more heavily armoured tanks such as the Maus but these were determined to be of little use due to their huge weight, which would have made moving them very difficult, and the huge size, which would have made them easy targets for heavy artillery.
Well-known World War II tanks were the German Panzer IV, Panther and Tiger I, Soviet T-34 (produced in the largest numbers of any tank of the war and second most ever), British Matilda, Churchill and Cromwell, and American M4 Sherman (second most produced tank of the war) and Stuart tanks. Tanks became a main weapon during World War II, where battles between great numbers of tanks were fought, especially between the Germans and the Soviet Union.
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