Most of the Leopard 2s handed over by Germany are in a non-operational condition

2 January, 2024 Ukrainian Leopard 2A6 in the forests of Kreminna, December 2023. Photo credits: Libkos Most of the Ukrainian Leopard 2A6 tanks, which were transferred by Germany, are currently not operationally ready.

The German MP Sebastian Schafer reported on this. "Unfortunately, it should be noted that Ukraine can only use a small number of delivered tanks," Schafer noted. According to the MP, the broken equipment is not used at the front line.

He cites the lack of spare parts and damage caused by poor quality repairs by Ukrainian mechanics as the source of problems with the restoration of damaged equipment.

The Ukrainian military repairing the Leopard 2 tank in Zaporizhzhia. June 2023, Ukraine. Photo credits: apnews.com

"It takes a very long time to repair as there are not enough suitable parts.

In my opinion, there is an urgent need for measures that would quickly improve the situation with spare parts. There is also a problem that the Ukrainian military sometimes tries to repair tanks, which then leads to further damage to the vehicles. It is necessary to check how much this can be prevented by better training of mechanics or by providing additional instructions," Schafer writes.

The MP also claims that another reason for the delays in the restoration of armored vehicles is the lack of proper repair facilities in the country. He notes that to be repaired, the equipment goes through lengthy transportation to Lithuania, where the Lithuania Defense Services (LDS) Maintenance Center, a joint company of KMW and Rheinmetall, is located.

Leopard 2A6 tanks repaired in Lithuania are preparing to return to Ukraine on December 15, 2023. Photo credits: Ministry of Defense of Lithuania

In his letter, the politician called on defense contractors Rheinmetall and Krauss-Maffei Wegmann to deploy the necessary infrastructure in Ukraine.

"According to your company, maintenance of the first Marder has now been launched in Lviv.

In my opinion, it would be urgently necessary to also create the possibility of repairing more complex Leopard 2 in Ukraine," Schafer writes.

In addition to Leopard 2 tanks, the Ukrainian military also actively operates dozens of Marder infantry fighting vehicles and PzH 2000 self-propelled artillery systems.

Ukrainian PzH 2000 self-propelled howitzers in Lithuania, December 2022

Part of the latter has already been repaired in Lithuania at Lithuania Defense Services (LDS).