U.K. and Poland Are Donating Modern Tanks to Ukraine, Proving NATO No Longer Fears Russia
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S.Africa: Hideous: 5 children murdered for Witchcraft
Blacks in Africa believe in Witchcraft like crazy. Even Black Christians regard Witchcraft as more powerful than the Bible. Murders of Blacks for body parts for Witchcraft goes on in Africa all the time. Here‘s a story from SA.
[The West's equipment is more high tech, and it is more expensive to produce and takes much longer to build. But this analysis that NATO countries are not scared of Russia is interesting. I think there is some truth to this. But this war could rage for years. Jan]
It’s possible this move could escalate the war—but it might be the only way for Ukraine to win.
BY KYLE MIZOKAMI
PUBLISHED: JAN 12, 2023
The U.K. and Poland will donate Challenger 2 and Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine.
These tanks are widely considered superior to most Ukrainian and Russian tanks.
The donation is expected to cause even more NATO countries to donate Leopards to Ukraine, and convince Germany to help support a growing Ukrainian tank fleet.
After months of deliberation and debate, two NATO member countries have made the decision to donate Western-style tanks to Ukraine. The United Kingdom will donate Challenger 2 tanks, while Poland will donate German-made Leopard 2 tanks. The arrangement is meant to give Ukraine the tools it needs to retake lost territory, and encourage other countries—especially Germany—to break the self-imposed restrictions against sending over tanks.
The Financial Times reports that the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Rishi Sunak, has instructed his Minister of Defence to go “further and faster with our support for Ukraine including the provision of tanks.” The only tank available for transfer is the Challenger 2, the main battle tank of the British Army. Meanwhile, Polish President Andrzej Duda promised to send a company’s worth of Leopard 2 tanks. A company of tanks is anywhere from 10 to 14 vehicles.
A Ukrainian Bulat tank. The Bulat traces its origins to the Soviet-era T-64 tank. On one hand, the tank is obsolete. On the other hand, it may share parts with Russian tanks, and can use the same ammunition.
NATO has sent tanks to Ukraine in the past, but restricted them to obsolete T-72 tanks that the Soviet Union made; it was a natural decision, given that various member states had been keeping them in storage. The tanks are considered easier for Ukrainians to operate, arm, and maintain, as Ukrainian tanks are similar in design, and use the same ammunition. However, Ukraine’s tanks are not as sophisticated as Western-style ones, and still have all of the disadvantages of Russia’s tanks.
Until now, NATO has held back from supplying Western-style tanks. Although superior in several ways, giving Ukraine such tanks was largely considered an escalatory step that many alliance members wanted to avoid. Not only would providing such tanks anger nuclear-armed Russia, but the tanks would require greater direct logistical support, further dragging NATO into the conflict. The American Abrams tank is generally considered to be less practical in Ukraine, for instance, as it uses a gasoline-powered turbine engine, and would require Ukraine to supply the front line with both gas and diesel.
Now, reports of Russian atrocities in the field, as well as Moscow’s air campaign against civilian targets, have convinced many that the fastest way to end the war is to beat Russia on the battlefield. Therefore, Ukraine must receive as many modern weapons as it can absorb.
The Challenger 2 is a good tank, but underneath the camouflage lies a tank that has seen little updates since its introduction in the late 1990s.
The Challenger 2 is the latest tank that the United Kingdom—the inventor of the tank—has produced. It weighs 62.5 tons, has a crew of four, and is powered by a 1,200-horsepower Perkins CV12-6A V12 diesel engine. It’s armed with a 120-millimeter rfiled gun (the only rifled gun in the NATO alliance) and two 7.62-millimeter machine guns. Armored protection is a combination of steel and so-called Chobham armor; the U.K. developed it in the 1970s, and it includes ceramics and other non-steel metals later used in the U.S. Army’s Abrams tank. It has a road speed of 37 miles per hour, a cross-country speed of 25 miles per hour, and a range of 340 miles on roads.
At Last, the U.S. Is Sending Tanks to Ukraine
Can the M1 Abrams Tank Still Outgun Russia’s Best?
Challenger 2 is a good tank, but it has not been modernized since its introduction in 1998. It also uses a smoothbore gun instead of a 120-millimeter rifled gun, making its ammo incompatible. Challenger 2 earned a reputation for toughness in the 2000s, when Iraqi insurgents attacked numerous tanks with handheld anti-tank weapons. No Challenger 2s were destroyed.
The Polish Armed Forces operates several types of Leopard 2s, including this Leopard 2A4, which includes the original boxy turret. Later versions have additional armor at the front of the turret. The -2A4 is the most likely variant to be sent to Ukraine.
Meanwhile, Germany developed the Leopard 2 in the late 1970s. It also weighs about 62 tons, has a crew of four, and is powered by a 1,480-horsepower MTU turbo diesel engine. The greater horsepower makes it faster than the Challenger 2, with a top speed of 43 miles per hour on roads, and 25 miles per hour cross-country. Leopard 2 was the first tank equipped with the Rheinmetall Rh-120, which the U.S. Army’s M1A1 Abrams tank later adopted. Leopard 2 is considered highly reliable, and 13 of the 30 NATO member countries have adopted it.
Why NATO Tanks Are Superior
Both tanks include thermal night vision capability that most Russian tanks lack, allowing them to continue to engage and destroy enemy targets at night and through smokescreens. They also feature superior armored protection, crew comfort, fire control and electronics, and suspension systems compared to Russian and Ukrainian tanks.
An abandoned Russian T-62 tank south of the village of Novovorontsovka, in southern Ukraine. Obsolete T-62s were supplied to Russian troops in late summer 2022. With few exceptions, Russia’s tank force has grown worse over time, while Ukraine’s tank force is set to grow stronger—a strange parallel to the direction of the war in general.
The decision by Poland and the U.K. is also meant to coerce Germany into providing tanks and support. Germany is the manufacturer of the Leopard 2, and the greatest storehouse of expertise, spare parts, and ammunition for the tanks; in other words, German support for NATO Leopard 2 tanks provided to Ukraine is critical. Germany has repeatedly held out against sending tanks, but the thought is that it would eventually follow suit if another NATO country took the initiative.
Perhaps the biggest way Western tanks will change the calculus isn’t on the battlefield—at least for now, anyway. Supplying Ukraine with more modern tanks shows that its allies are willing to not only provide lethal aid, but the means to run the Russian army out of the country completely. These countries—most backed by the American nuclear protective umbrella—have lost their fear of Russian nuclear weapons and Putin’s empty threats and promises. NATO has seen Putin’s bet, and it’s increasingly clear the Russian leader is holding a bad poker hand.
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