UK considering sending tanks to Ukraine for first time
Discussions have been taking place “for a few weeks” about delivering a number of the British Army’s Challenger 2 main battle tank to the Ukrainian armed forces, a Western source with knowledge of the conversations said.
Such a move would mark a significant step-up in Western support to Ukraine and could help prompt other NATO allies, in particular Germany, to follow suit.
“It would encourage others to give tanks,” a Ukrainian source said.
No final decision has yet been made by Rishi Sunak’s government, but if the UK did sign off on such a delivery it would become the first nation to respond to pleas from Ukrainian leaders to equip their military with powerful Western tanks.
A US-led grouping of some 50 nations – including the UK – that is delivering military support to Ukraine is due to hold its next meeting on 20 January. Any announcements about new assistance, such as tanks, could be made to coincide with the Contact Group gathering.
One source suggested Britain might offer around 10 Challenger 2 tanks, enough to equip a squadron.
The source said this in itself would not be a “game changer” but it would still be hugely significant because the move would breach a barrier that has so far prevented allies from offering up Western tanks to Ukraine for fear of being seen as overly escalatory by Russia.
That could in turn prompt other allies to do the same, sources said.
“It will be a good precedent to demonstrate [to] others – to Germany first of all, with their Leopards… and Abrams from the United States,” the Ukrainian source said.
Ukraine has long requested the mass-produced, German-made Leopard II tanks, used by several European allies, including Germany, Poland, Finland, the Netherlands and Spain.
Warsaw and Helsinki have already signalled a willingness to supply their Leopard tanks to Kyiv but this requires approval from Berlin because Germany holds the export licence.
Olaf Scholz, the German chancellor, has adopted a more cautious approach to equipping Ukraine with weapons than other countries such as the UK and the United States.
But he has slowly been ramping up his country’s assistance.
