Poland has officially delivered 4 Leopard 2 main battle tanks to Ukraine. These are the first of the tanks to be delivered. The Polish Prime Minister says Poland will send 10 additional Leopard 2s in the near future.
Sweden has announced that they also intend on sending 10 Leopard 2A5s as part of their newest arms Package for Ukraine. Sweden currently operates 150 units of the Leopard 2A5. Stockholm has also committed 50 CV90 infantry fighting vehicles as well as the Hawk and IRIS-T air defense systems. The Swedish defense ministry said, “The value of the [Hawk] components and ammunition, if purchased, would be several hundred million euros.”
Sweden’s decision to send tanks comes after much reluctance, in January Swedish leadership said that sending tanks was not “on the plate.” It appears that Germany was successful in their attempt to convince more members of the “Leopard family” (countries that operate the Leopard main battle tank) to supply Ukraine with the vehicle. The decision to supply the tanks followed German Chancellor Olaf Schultz’s statement at the Munich Security Conference that German leadership was, “canvassing intensively” to convince more members of the Leopard family to send the tanks to Ukraine.
