Pressure mounts on Berlin to send Kyiv Leopard tanks, a powerful defence against Russian forces.
Source: Ukraine war: ‘Frank’ talks as Ukraine pushes Germany for tanks
so germany is relactant to send leopards unless us sends m1s. for 2 reaosns. 1. reluctanct to escalate as they don’t wnat to be that guy again,
“Germany also remains haunted by the Nazi-era devastation it caused in World War Two, and Chancellor Olaf Scholz is believed to be cautious about having anything to do with an escalation in Ukraine.”
“But Germany is reluctant to send Leopards unless they are part of a wider Nato package that preferably includes America’s powerful M1 Abrams tanks. The US has rejected this, saying the Abrams tanks are impractical for Ukraine’s forces because they are difficult and expensive to maintain.”
and 2. ???
seems that germany is saying in order to show a united front, not just germany as the bad guy again, all must send their best (UK sends chalenger2, canada send a fe Leopard2s, uisa send a few M1 abrahms, etc.
even though M1 is not practicval, maybe usa can just send a token squadron (16 or so), and never get them in serrvice. (why not practical? very fuel hungry, 5gallons just to start!, although can burn many different fuels, like a deilse., but hard to repair, very hard to train, maintina, etc. i thought maybe usa had some leopars, but none apparently.
