Danish Defence Ministry acknowledges defects in Leopard 1A5 tanks sent to Ukraine

Defects have been found in 12 of the 20 Leopard 1A5 tanks sent to Ukraine, as stated in an explanatory note by Danish Defence Minister Trolls Lund Poulsen.

Source: European Pravda, citing TV2, a Danish government-owned broadcast and subscription TV station

Details: Poulsen acknowledges that there are problems with the 10 tanks already in Ukraine. His note stated that the Ukrainians are fixing these issues.

The minister also said 10 more Leopard 1A5 tanks are currently in Poland. Two of these tanks are reported to have serious defects.

Background: 

• The German news magazine Spiegel revealed that Ukraine refused to accept a batch of 10 Leopard 1A5 tanks from Germany, saying that they require repairs and that Ukraine does not have the technicians and spare parts to do so.
• In early August, Germany reportedly planned to provide Ukraine with about 30 additional Leopard 1 tanks after the Rheinmetall arms company had bought them from Belgium.
• Furthermore, media reports indicated that Germany approached Greece with a proposal to send 100 Greek Leopard 1A5s, currently in service, to Ukraine and receive upgraded armoured vehicles in return.

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