I was just in the process of putting together some information, intending to title the post “Ukrainian Tower of Babel, aka a Perkins water pump does not fit an MTU engine.”
At present, the Ukrainian army has a reasonably homogeneous tank force of ex-Soviet hardware: several hundreds of T-64s, T-72s and PT-91s (Polish copy of a T-72), with their existing force being backfilled with captured Russian hardware, and donations from ex-Warsaw Pact NATO members.
So, they have expectations of receiving, from various parties, some 100 Leopards. The “news” tonight announced the POTUS is approving the transfer of 50-M-1s. The Brits have donated 14 Challenger 2s.
Ukraine will have three different models of tanks, in small numbers each, with three different powertrains, to support. At least the M-1’s gun uses the same ammo as the Leopard’s Rheinmetall built gun. The Challengers, that paltry 14 Challengers, don’t even use the same NATO ammo.
Jordan is retiring nearly 400 Challenger 1s. The UK is pouring money into new turrets for 148 Challenger 2s so they can carry the Rheinmetall gun and fire NATO standard ammo. Seems that, in the absence of detailed information. the logical thing would be for the Brits to buy Leopards, and ship their Challenger 2s and the Jordanian Challenger 1 to Ukraine, a package of over 600 tanks with the same engine and use the same ammo.
Steve…bets the Challengers in Ukraine are run until they break, and are quickly abandoned due to the impossibility of supporting them, with the M-1s close behind.