Illustrative photo – Ukrainian tank with soldiers in Luhansk on January 15, 2023.
Brno – Ukraine now also needs tanks of a lower technological level, believes Zdeněk Petráš from the Center for Security and Military-Strategic Studies of the University of Defense. However, tanks alone do not win the battle, Petráš told ČTK. In addition to more modern tanks from the West, for example, Leopard 1 tanks, which Germany has not used for 20 years, are heading to Ukraine. Ukraine has been facing a Russian invasion for almost a year.
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Photo gallery: Russian invasion of Ukraine
Petráš said that in modern warfare, tanks are a key element especially for offensive operations, due to their firepower combined with high mobility and the ability to provide protection for advancing mechanized units. “Tanks can of course be used defensively, but Ukraine has made it clear that it wants weapons not only to stop any potential Russian offensive, but to recapture its own territory, i.e. to attack. However, tanks alone do not win battles. They also need artillery support, to first weaken this defense and then support the infantry to hold the recaptured ground,” opines the expert.
According to him, under the given situation, Ukraine needs tanks, even relatively lower technological levels. According to him, what is important is primarily the quantity, but also the level of training of the tank crews, the composition of the units and, above all, the ability of the operation command to effectively deploy these units in a combat formation in the advance against the enemy. “The ability of the army command to navigate the operation and solve the situation is often far more important in war than modern technology,” said Petráš.
According to him, the question of how many tanks the country needs is complicated. “It would not make sense for Ukraine to deploy tanks across the entire front line of more than 1,000 kilometers. In order for Ukraine to face the Russian offensive and possibly break through the Russian defense, it will have to concentrate its forces perhaps on an area between five and 20 kilometers. In this situation, the delivery of more than 100 Western battle tanks could have made a big difference,” Petráš said. However, he drew attention to the fact that the current total ratio of heavy equipment and tanks between Russia and Ukraine does not allow us to think that the Ukrainian army would be able to concentrate its forces in several directions.
Several types of modern tanks are to be aimed at Ukraine from the West, the United States will provide Kiev with Abrams tanks, Britain with Challenger tanks, Germany and other countries with Leopard 2 tanks. In the coming months, Kiev should also receive at least 100 older Leopard 1 tanks, which is the first main battle tank to be produced in Germany During the Second World War, he started producing for the needs of the Bundeswehr. The German army has not used the tank, of which a total of 4,700 units were produced, for about 20 years. “Here, it is important to realize that this is a technique that has been replaced by more modern tanks in many armies. These tanks are therefore not used as key means to ensure the defense capability of the countries in question or to fulfill other obligations, for example in relation to NATO. The supply of these tanks thus, it will not reduce the ability of the countries in question to fulfill tasks resulting from strategic interests in the field of defense and security,” Petráš added.
