The majority of Ukrainian Leopard 2A6 tanks supplied by Germany are currently in a non-combat-ready condition.
This was reported by German deputy Sebastian Schäfer.
"Unfortunately, it should be noted that only a small number of the delivered tanks can still be used by Ukraine," said Schäfer.
According to the deputy, the broken equipment is not used at the front. He attributes the problems with restoring damaged equipment to a lack of spare parts and damage caused by poor repairs by Ukrainian mechanics.
Repair takes a lot of time because there is a shortage of appropriate spare parts. In my opinion, there is an urgent need for measures that will quickly improve the situation with spare parts.
"There is also a problem that the Ukrainian army sometimes tries to repair tanks, which then leads to further damage to the vehicles. It is necessary to check how this can be prevented through better training of mechanics or providing additional instructions," writes Schäfer.
Another reason for delays in restoring armored vehicles, according to the deputy, is the lack of proper repair facilities within the country.
He notes that for repairs, the equipment undergoes lengthy transportation to Lithuania, where the Lithuania Defense Services (LDS) Technical Maintenance Center is located, a joint venture of KMW and Rheinmetall.
In his letter, the politician called on the defense companies Rheinmetall and Krauss-Maffei Wegmann to deploy the necessary infrastructure in Ukraine.
"According to your company's data, service for the first Marder-type systems has now begun in Lviv. In my opinion, it would be urgently necessary to also create the possibility of repairing more complex Leopard 2 systems in Ukraine," writes Schäfer.
It is worth noting that in addition to Leopard 2 tanks, Ukrainian military also actively operate dozens of Marder infantry fighting vehicles and self-propelled artillery units PzH 2000.
