Heavy Armor: What Will US Abrams and German Leopard 2 Do In Ukraine

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By Kris Osborn, President, Center for Military Modernization

(Washington D.C.) German Leopard 2 and US Abrams main battle tanks are on the way to Ukraine in response to a critical time-sensitive need to stop Russian advances and succeed in re-claiming, taking and holding territory previously held by Russia.

Tanks Headed to Ukraine

Multiple mainstream German and US news publications are reporting that German Chancellor Scholz has decided to send the Leopard 2s and also citing Biden Administration officials saying the Pentagon will be sending as many as 30 Abrams tanks to support the effort. The Leopard 2s will come from Poland but require German authorization to export, because thousands of Leopard 2 tanks are already in use in Eastern Europe with allied nations such as Poland, Austria, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Switzerland and Hungary, among others.

Tanks have been in demand in recent months as the overall nature of the fight in the East has been shifting in a way that requires more heavy armor and mechanized forces. While Ukraine clearly has some tanks already, more may be needed to close in on and “breakthrough” Russian barriers, fortifications and troop positions. Ukrainian forces may need to “mass” to a greater extent and maneuver in different, larger formations than they have thus far. This requires force protection, meaning Ukrainian forces on a counterattack will need built-in ISR (intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance) in the form of drones as well as certain kinds of base protections such as sensors, interceptors, jammers or other countermeasures.

While Ukrainian forces can still leverage the effective “decentralized” approach they have used with great success thus far to a certain extent with ambush-style anti-armor attacks, there is now a need for greater coordination and connectivity regarding wider-area maneuvers with larger forces reclaiming territory. This is why there is a need for more infantry carriers and tanks to move units between forward positions, transport vehicles such as tactical trucks and Humvees and coordinated logistics and command and control.