Espreso. Global

Nuances behind armored vehicles in European warehouses 

27 November, 2024 Wednesday
18:35

An OSINT analyst using the pseudonym Just BeCause shared his estimate of the armored vehicles still in storage in Western Europe, based on public data. He explained that his calculation was made to assess whether Europe could significantly support Ukraine if the United States reduced its defense supplies

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According to his analysis, European countries have several hundred armored personnel carriers, infantry fighting vehicles, self-propelled artillery, and tanks in reserve:

  • Germany: the defense company FFG has about 100 military vehicles, mostly Leopard 1 tanks. Rheinmetall also has a large number of Leopard 1 tanks and Marder infantry fighting vehicles in stock.
  • Italy: Italy has already sent a lot of M109 self-propelled artillery and about half of its 1,000 M113 armored personnel carriers to Ukraine. They could send up to 500 more M113s over time.
  • UK: the UK has about 40 Challenger 2 tanks, 10 AS90 self-propelled artillery systems, 150 MRAP vehicles, and 100 Warrior infantry fighting vehicles in storage.
  • France: France could provide Ukraine with up to 200 F1 self-propelled artillery systems and 200 AMX30 tanks from their storage bases.

Defence Express has reviewed the details and potential issues with this estimate.

Defense Express points out that when looking at the number of military vehicles in storage, we also need to consider their actual condition, which may be worse than expected. There's a common belief that Western countries maintain their equipment better than Russia, but this isn't always the case. For example, between 2010-2014, the UK got rid of 43 Challenger 2 tanks because it was cheaper than keeping them. 

Read also: What NATO's calls for medium-range missiles for Ukraine mean

This means that some of the equipment in storage may not be ready for use and could just be parts for repairs. Many of the vehicles mentioned, including the British Warrior APCs, French AMX-30 tanks, and F1 artillery systems, have never been transferred to Ukraine before. Deploying them may come with technical challenges.

  • The head of the Special Staff for Ukraine at the German Ministry of Defense, Major General Christian Freuding, said that Germany would supply about 150-200 armored MRAP vehicles to Ukraine by the end of the year.
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