It's no secret that Ukraine needs defense armored vehicles of NATO standards. In mid-September, speaking at the Pentagon, a visionary “senior military official” remarked that Ukraine needed to “switch to NATO-compatible armored vehicles.”. In particular, he stressed that the issue of "

But 2023 will start in just a few days. And NATO-compatible tanks, even defense-oriented and lighter-armed ones, still remain on the figurative table.. Craig Hooper, founder and CEO of Themistocles Advisory Group, writes about this in an article for Forbes..

He notes that there are no easy ways for Ukraine. And if we talk about modern armored vehicles, the choice is actually not very large.. If South Korea, which has become a powerful arms exporter, does not suddenly come up with an offer, only Germany and the United States have enough tanks to help Ukraine start accumulating a standardized armored force based on one model..

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Hooper notes that under normal conditions, Germany and the US would have struggled to take over long-term supplies to Ukraine.. But an advanced battle tank is an ambiguous question.. One way or another, but the supplier of such weapons is attached to its customers. It is associated with every future conflict in which these clients have to participate.. Germany and the US can and do support Ukraine today. But Berlin and Washington would not really want their advanced tanks to become the “face” of the Ukrainian army if a conflict breaks out again between Ukraine and Russia in the future.. But Kyiv does not have much time.

In anticipation of more difficult fighting, the Ukrainian side found itself at an unpleasant tipping point between arming NATO standards and old equipment from the Warsaw Pact era.. The author notes that the former treaty countries have modernized their old Soviet arsenals well.. And Ukrainian mechanics are doing an extraordinary job, keeping the old armor in combat-ready condition.. But Soviet tanks have a limited lifespan.. And counting on the fact that the Ukrainian army will capture more abandoned Russian vehicles on the battlefield is also not worth it..

Hooper explains that Ukraine cannot support an ever-wider range of transferred and captured tanks. According to Oryx, a weapon-tracking website, the Ukrainian army now has about 20 different variants of Russian tanks in its hands.. No army can last long with such chaos..

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And unlike the former Warsaw Pact countries, which had several slow decades to bring their arsenals up to NATO standards, Ukraine has to switch to new weapons quickly and under enemy fire..

“The situation is complicated by the fact that the Ukrainian transition to the NATO arsenal is hindered by the decision of cowardly bureaucrats who preemptively classified tanks as “offensive” weapons.. And the strange Russian authorities are casting down such a technique of " But worry is unjustified,” writes Hooper..

He explains that Ukraine has already received upgraded T-72s.. And Russia did not react to it in any way.. Therefore, the refusal to supply modern tanks seems absurd " But if it helps, NATO should clarify its broad definitions and introduce the concept of "

“Defensive armored vehicles can be older and lighter Western vehicles, armed, for example, with 105-millimeter cannons instead of the large calibers inherent in modern main battle tanks. This clearly points Ukraine to Leopard I tanks, M60 Pattons, earlier Abrams models, and even the hulking eight-wheeled Stryker armored vehicles of the US Army,” Hooper suggests..

Of course, Ukraine wants modern tanks Leopard II and Abrams. But it doesn't look like Germany or the US wants to send their advanced weapons to the battlefield of the Russo-Ukrainian war.. In December, Chancellor Olaf Scholz made it clear that his country did not intend to offer tanks to Ukraine in the next 12 months.. In Washington, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky attempted to replicate Winston Churchill's epic 1941 visit, but failed to negotiate tank deliveries..

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But Hooper notes that recognizing NATO's older tanks as " The Alliance could at least formulate a plan for Kyiv and start training future Ukrainian tankers and mechanics who will maintain such equipment.. For example, if the Ukrainian side knew that Germany would eventually hand over the Leopard I to it, it would start working on training more mechanics for the Gepard vehicles, which are built on the Leopard I chassis and are already in the Ukrainian arsenal.. Defensive tanks make sense. Such NATO vehicles with 105mm cannons can be of use to the Ukrainian army on the battlefield, although they will not help launch an offensive to reach Moscow..