The European military has begun training Ukrainian soldiers on Leopard tanks on display in Danish museums. The training is part of a program to support Ukraine by a coalition of Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium.
Source. This was reported by Forbes.
Earlier, this coalition promised to give Ukraine 178 Leopard 1A5 tanks produced in the 1980s.
The training began in May at the Klitsch training ground west of Berlin. At the first stage, German turretless combat vehicles were used for training. However, at the final stage of the training, it became necessary to use Leopard tanks.
This caused certain problems, as most of the tanks belonging to the armed forces of European countries had been in storage for more than 20 years and needed to be repaired.
In this situation, a coalition of countries entered into an agreement with three Danish museums that provided six Leopard tanks. It turned out that the vehicles on display in the museums were in better condition than the tanks in the armed forces' possession.
Four months later, employees of the German concern Rheinmetall repaired the Leopard 1A5 tanks, and now they are being quickly transferred to the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
Currently, ten repaired tanks are on Ukrainian territory, and another part of the vehicles has been transferred for training at the Klitsch training ground. The training program may last until 2024.
Background. The day before, it became known that the first Leopard 1 tanks, donated by Denmark, Germany, and the Netherlands, had arrived in Ukraine. More tanks are on the way, the Danish Defense Ministry said.