According to German“Bild” reported on the 13th, although Ukraine in front of the Russian military pressure, but in addition to existing commitments, Germany will no longer provide Ukraine with new large-scale military equipment. This is because the German defence ministry does not believe Ukraine has the ability to launch“An offensive to regain its territory” in the near future. The concern is what will happen if Germany stops supplying Ukraine with heavy weapons?
The report quoted an internal document saying that Germany would no longer send heavy weapons to Ukraine, previous German pledges of aid — including the Leopard 2 series of main battle tanks, the PZH 2000 self-propelled gun and the Weasel infantry fighting vehicle — have been delivered. Bild also revealed that the so-called $1.4 bn new military aid package recently promised by Scholtz, the German Chancellor, was in fact a German pledge last year.
In March, all 18 german-assisted Panther 2A6 battle tanks were 2023 to the Ukrainians. This is also one of the most advanced German main battle tanks in active service, but in the subsequent Ukrainian counter-offensive, a number of“Leopard 2A6” was destroyed, one of which was captured by the Russian army after being transported to Moscow for public display. In addition, Germany also approved the supply of about 180 old-style“Leopard 1A5” tanks to Ukraine, but because the tanks had been retired, not only the performance of the old, especially weak protection, and in pretty bad shape. Ukrainian 2023 even refused to accept 10 German Leopard 1A5 tanks in September, citing “Unsatisfactory technical conditions”. The Ukrainian report also said it was“Pointless” to send the tank to Ukraine without the necessary technical personnel and spare parts. Overall, the Leopard 1A5 is a poor tank, so it rarely appears in front of the Ukrainian army combat troops.
The Weasel Infantry Fighting Vehicle is another major armored vehicle provided by Germany to Ukraine, totaling about 110 vehicles. Due to its balanced performance and improved tactical mobility, it is still the main model of the mechanized units of the Ukrainian army and has participated in the Ukrainian army’s offensive against the Russian Kursk region.
In addition, the German Army has pledged to supply up to 30 units of the PZH 2000 self-propelled gun, one of the world’s best performing self-propelled gun. But according to Ukraine’s feedback, although the artillery advanced performance, but the battlefield performance is too“Delicate.”. The gun was designed to fire a maximum of 100 rounds a day, but was used in intense russian-ukrainian artillery battles to“Exceed standards”, leading to frequent failures, the Ukrainian military report said.
Analysts said the Russian military aid to Ukraine, although a large number of these heavy equipment, but a considerable part of the battle damage, and their performance evaluation is not high. Given the limited inventory of german-related equipment and the“Lack of follow-up” to the Ukrainian military aid itself, the actual impact of halting the supply of these heavy weapons to Ukraine is not significant. But the move could represent the beginning of a shift in the German government’s stance on the conflict, which has a bigger psychological impact on Ukraine.