Military experts point to maintenance as the biggest fragility of the three Leopard 2 tanks that Portugal will provide to Ukraine in working condition.
“The biggest weakness of this tank [Leopard 2 A6, de fabrico alemão] is that the systems are analog, hence some difficulties in maintenance, since the replacement must be carried out using spare parts that are already out of production,” said Colonel Mendez Diaz to Lusa.
According to the military analyst, this situation is observed in all countries where there is an analog version, and not a digital version, already included in the Leopard 2 A7, the latest model and integrated into the German army.
“We have 37 Leopards, all of them in the Santa Margarida mechanized brigade, 31 in the tank group and six in the reconnaissance squadron,” he said.
“In terms of efficiency, if everything is in working order, the color is green, if you have an expired fire extinguisher, the color is yellow, if the problem is more serious, the color is red,” he continued.
“The fact that it is yellow does not mean that it does not perform operational tasks. But these are very demanding vehicles. Portugal had four combat vehicles in green, a lot of red and a few yellow with various problems of this type, but which were ready to perform mission,” he said.
From the point of view of Major General Carlos Branco, Portugal should not provide its “jewel in the crown”, referring to the Leopard 2 A6, but rather opt for training soldiers or providing other vehicles, such as M113 vehicles, from the 1960s years, 14 of which have already been shipped to Ukraine.
According to various sources, many of these vehicles have no replacement, in addition to the fact that many of them remain inactive, such as the M60 tanks, parts of which are sold to the Turks.
“The logic behind sending three or four is that we should have tanks left,” says Mendez Diaz, who sees the danger in sending modern Western weapons to Ukraine.
“The fact that these weapons are seized by the Russian side because they are getting acquainted with our technologies can and should happen, the Russians have already seized the system [de artilharia] Himars. Parallel Russian tank T-90 [o mais recente] he has a shot stabilizer, and Russia produces 40 pieces a month. To face a problem, we have to say it,” he stressed.
However, from Mendez Diaz’s point of view, it didn’t make sense to just send one or two of these machines for operational reasons.
“Like everything else, they work in divisions. In terms of tactics and communications, they must maneuver, there must be three or four of them, because this is the minimum unit, a combat platoon, where people know each other and maneuver. from point of view. from a tactical point of view. If everyone sends their car, there will be problems in the supply chains, in training … it will take a year and a half,” he emphasized before resuming – emphasizing the need for better clarification of public opinion.
“We never fully know the opponent and the means we have… Unless public opinion is formed with some certainty, it will be very difficult to ask for their support and their euro,” he concluded.