Canada to send 4 combat-ready Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine in the coming weeks | CBC News (2024)

FAQs

Is Canada sending 4 more tanks to Ukraine? ›

The federal government will send another four tanks to Ukraine to support the country in its war with Russia, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced today.

And for Ukraine, T-72s and variants from the Czech Republic and Poland help to compensate for the meager consignment of Leopard 2s—just 71, so far—the country has gotten from its NATO allies. The Ukrainians have lost at least 11 of their Leopard 2s, and expect to get 14 more as replacements next year.

The Canadian Armed Forces has 112 Leopard 2s in its inventory. They include 82 designed for combat and 30 that are used for engineering purposes and recovering disabled vehicles. Many are not battle-ready because of maintenance issues.

The Leopard 2A4M is Canada's most advanced battle tank. The Canadian Army's fleet of variant Leopard 2A6M tanks is currently undergoing a modernization program to replace turret components, such as optics and fire control equipment, that will largely standardize systems between the 2A4M and 2A6M variants.

How many Leopard 2s does the Canadian military have? The Canadian Army currently has 112 Leopard 2s in its inventory. These include 82 designed primarily for combat, as well as 12 that are configured to recover disabled tanks from the battlefield and 18 that can be used for building bridges and other engineering tasks.

Canada has donated 8 armoured vehicles purchased from Roshel for Ukraine. These were delivered in May 2022.

In early March, press reports of the battle at Berdychi, five miles northwest of Avdiivka, asserted that the Ukrainian 47^th Mechanized Brigade lost three M1A1 Abrams main battle tanks, at least four M2A2 Bradley Fighting Vehicles, and two Assault Breacher Vehicles in combat there.

Today, the Leopard 2 carries even more powerful rounds with greater armor penetration, including the Rheinmetall DM53 and DM63 rounds, reportedly capable of penetrating 750 millimeters of tank armor at the same distance.

The Leopard 2 first entered service in 1979, and its service life is anticipated to end around 2030. In May 2015, the German Ministry of Defence announced plans to develop a tank jointly with France as a successor to both the Leopard 2 and Leclerc tanks.

How many battle ready tanks does the US have? ›

According to NATO, the US military has approximately 5,500 tanks in its arsenal, boasting one of the largest tank fleets in the world. From the iconic M1 Abrams to the versatile M2 Bradley, each tank in the United States inventory is meticulously designed to provide unmatched firepower, mobility, and protection.

The Canadian Armed Forces has 112 Leopard 2s in its inventory. They include 82 designed for combat and 30 that are used for engineering purposes and recovering disabled vehicles.

The main difference between the Abrams and Leopards is the engine. The Leopard 2 has a diesel-powered MTU MB 873 engine, which is much easier to maintain and more widely used across Europe, while the Abrams uses a more powerful and more complex turbine engine.

There isn't much mystery which of these systems is superior in terms of lethality and survivability. It's the M1A2 Abrams, named for Vietnam-era General Creighton Abrams. While other Western nations let their arms industries decay after the Soviet Union's collapse, the U.S. Army continued upgrading the Abrams.

Citing the military balance 2021, the Canadian army has a total of 82 Main Battle Tanks including 42 Leopard 2A4, 20 Leopard 2A4M, 20 Leopard 2A6M, and 52 Leopard 1C2 tanks in store which is an upgraded version of the original Leopard 1A model with a new turret and Krupp-Atlas fire control system.

A total of 808 Main Battle Tanks will be delivered to Ukraine by NATO allies. According to our count as of April 28, 2023, Ukraine will receive a total of 808 tanks from NATO countries, part of which has already been delivered and the rest will be supplied to the Ukrainian army in the next few weeks.

On 11 January 2023, the United Kingdom confirmed plans to send modern heavy tanks to Ukraine. On 28 March, 14 Challenger tanks were delivered to Ukraine. In January 2023, the United States stated they will send 31 M1 Abrams tanks to Ukraine. They have arrived as of September 2023.

Ukraine used Soviet-era T-72 tanks prior to the invasion, and since February 2022 has received more than 200 T-72s from Poland, the Czech Republic and a small number of other countries. The UK led the way in Nato by offering a more modern tank - the Challenger 2, which was built in the 1990s.