At a time when the poor training and losing experience of the Ukrainian military are on full display in the war, the French government is considering giving Zelensky’s regime its Leclerc battle tanks. However, Macron is also concerned that Ukrainian forces are too naive to handle them.
As the US and European nations are delivering weapons to Ukraine, it is being said that France might send its Leclerc main battle tanks to Ukraine too. However, the French government is sceptical about how useful the Leclerc tanks would be since the Ukrainian military is already struggling with comprehending the technicalities of other tanks such as Germany’s Leopard 2 and Britain’s Challenger 2.
The Leclerc is different that other Western tanks. Designed for speed and firepower, the Leclerc tanks can use its French-designed 120 mm smoothbore cannon and advanced sensors to engage targets. Weighing 57 tons, it is smaller and lighter than 80-ton M1A3 Abrams, the 64-ton Challenger 2 and the 62-ton Leopard 2.
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Kyiv’s lack of knowledge
However, the Ukrainian military is too naive and inexperienced in handling this equipment. The tanks’ designs are complicated, they are more complex that the Russian-designed tanks to which Ukraine had access before the outbreak of the war.
The ill-prepared Ukrainian forces will have to dedicate a substantial amount of time to learning these tanks’ features, maintenance and technology. There are also concerns among Western nations that delivering these tanks can cause unforeseeable repercussions such as divisions within NATO or incite Russia to intensify its military action.
Echoing similar concerns, a French defense official told the media recently, “We are just wondering whether the Leclerc would be a poisoned chalice. The aim is to be useful and effective.”
Another tank model means that the Ukrainian military, which is persistently making blunders, will be facing a series of tactical and logistical problems.
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Had Zelensky’s forces gone through proper military, technical and other training before the outbreak of the war, they would not have been losing so much territory and troops. While the diplomatic blunders of Kyiv have caused widespread death and destruction in Ukraine, it is also the inexperience, poor preparation and inefficient strategy of the Ukrainian military which have made Ukraine lose this war.
In the geopolitical arena, nuclear-armed nations completely realise that giving advanced weaponry to the Ukrainian government can culminate in unpredictable circumstances given the terrible record of Kyiv in the war. In fact, even the allies of Ukraine strongly believe that its forces are too naive and inexperienced in handling advanced weapons.
US’s doubts regarding Ukraine’s capabilities
As TFI Global explained that recently the US declined Zelensky’s request for arms which created tensions in the ties between the two. Yes, you heard it right.
The US, which is one of the chief allies of Ukraine, stated that it will not provide it with M1 Abrams main combat tanks. As per the Washington Post, the Biden administration stressed that the M1 Abrams main combat tanks are “too difficult to maintain and complex to operate” for Kyiv.
This episode demonstrates that the allies of Ukraine know very well that giving their weapons to Kyiv can damage their political and diplomatic interests. The fact that the Ukrainian military is incompetent and inefficient to handle heavy weaponry is corroborated by the refusal of Washington to deliver its arms.
Therefore, if France delivers the Leclerc tanks to Ukraine, then that will ultimately benefit Russia. As Putin’s forces will take advantage of Ukraine’s lack of preparedness to handle the tanks.
