9 March, 2023
Mariusz Błaszczak, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense of Poland.
The Polish government handed over the last 10 of 14 Leopard 2A4 tanks to Ukraine and completed the training of Ukrainian soldiers.
Mariusz Błaszczak, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense of Poland, reported this.
“We have handed over 10 more Leopard 2A4 tanks to Ukraine, and the process of training Ukrainian soldiers on these combat vehicles has also been completed. We managed to gather an entire battalion of Leopard 2A4s. In this way, we support Ukraine as part of the international coalition,” Błaszczak said at the briefing.
He noted that the tank battalion transferred to Ukraine included 8 tanks from Canada and Norway each and 6 tanks from Spain.
The Minister of Defense also emphasized that the Ukrainian servicemen undergoing exercises on Leopard 2 tanks at the training ground in Świętoszów have already completed their training.
“These are servicemen who already have experience, served in the armored forces, but, of course, used post-Soviet equipment. I had the opportunity to talk to them, they are soldiers who have been fighting for years (…) they joined the Ukrainian military in 2014, after the Russian attack on Ukraine. These are highly motivated military personnel who came to Poland practically from the front line, military personnel who acquired relevant skills within a short time,” Błaszczak said.
It was reported that 105 Ukrainian servicemen arrived in Poland – 84 members of 21 tank crews, and 21 technical personnel.
Development of Leopard 2 repair hubs
Mariusz Blaszczak also stated that the Polish government has started the process of setting up a service center on the territory of Poland, which will be responsible for maintaining and repairing tanks that have arrived or will arrive in the near future in Ukraine.
“I discussed this with my German colleague (Boris Pistorius – ed.), and spare parts for these tanks are a challenge. Twenty years ago, the production of these parts was stopped, but we are ready to resume it, of course, in cooperation with the Germans,” Błaszczak said.
According to the Prime Minister, the service center will be deployed at the Bumar-Łabeda Armored Plant in the city of Gliwice, located in the south-west of Poland.
In a press conference on March 7, Mariusz Błaszczak announced that the Polish defense industry is ready to produce spare parts for German tanks.
However, to do this, enterprises would need to obtain the appropriate technical documentation, which belongs to Rheinmetall, Leopard tanks manufacturer.
https://mil.in.ua/en/news/poland-sent-10-leopard-2-tanks-along-with-trained-crews-to-ukraine/
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