Spanish Government Prepares Another 19 Leopard-2 Combat Tanks for Transfer to Ukraine
The Spanish government is preparing to send a new military aid package to Ukraine that includes an additional batch of Leopard 2A4 battle tanks, the Heraldo reports. The goal is to help the Kyiv army withstand the Russian military offensive, which is expected to intensify with the beginning of spring.
Pedro Sanchez's leadership wants to give a boost to the delivery of military equipment to Ukraine, and this was communicated yesterday to representatives of the national defence industry, whom he gathered for an unprecedented meeting at the Moncloa Palace to guarantee the support of the executive committee, provide details of their capabilities and ask them to make additional efforts to be able to increase assistance to Ukraine.
The Spanish Ministry of Defence will send new Leopard 2A4 battle tanks to Ukraine in the coming months.
Last year, Spain already made the first delivery of ten tanks, and the current forecast is for up to twenty new tanks to be delivered to the Ukrainian army.
These are Leopard 2A4 battle tanks, part of a group of army vehicles that have been stored in an industrial warehouse in Casetas, Zaragoza, for more than a decade and will be prepared at the Santa Barbara Sistemas plant in Alcalá de Guadaira (Seville) before being shipped.
Moncloa Palace is aware of Ukraine's needs to be able to sustain resistance to the Russian military offensive and is therefore exploring all avenues of assistance as part of the European Union's plan to increase economic, military and humanitarian support to the government of Kyiv.
Since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Spain has provided numerous military donations, such as combat vehicles, artillery, ammunition and air defence systems, night vision equipment, NBC military protective clothing, radio communications equipment, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), remote weapon control systems, ammunition guidance systems, howitzers, machine guns, anti-tank mines, small arms and artillery ammunition, mortars grenades, Yastrub, Mistral, Harpoon, Aspid missiles, TOA vehicles, ten Leopard 2A4 battle tanks and eight patrol boats.
In total, during 2022 and the first six months of 2023, Spain exported 133 million euros worth of military materials to Ukraine.