Unidentified buyer to send Leopard 1 tanks to Kiev: WashPo
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Dozens of Leopard 1 tanks have been sold to an unidentified buyer after the Belgian Defense Ministry said they were given an "unreasonable price" by the company.
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A Leopard 1 tank drives in Storkau, Germany, on May 19, 2000. (AP)
An unidentified buyer purchased dozens of Leopard 1 tanks, and they could be heading to Ukraine, according to The Washington Post (WashPo).
The news outlet cited the chief executive of the defense company OIP Land Systems, Freddy Versluys, saying, “I am glad they will finally join the fight for freedom."
According to WashPo, the tanks were bought by OIP years ago after the Belgian army sold them in order to cut costs. However, earlier this year, the Belgian Defense Minister Ludivine Dedonder said Brussels attempted to re-buy the Leopards but was given an “unreasonable price.”
In response to that allegation, Versluys said that “The fact that they leave our company proves that we asked for a fair market price and someone was more than happy to take them.”
The agreement appears to put an end to an allegedly sticky situation that, according to the WashPo, "embarrassed Belgium" and prompted concerns about "how so many battle tanks ended up in the hands of a private Belgian dealer and why NATO allies could not get them to Kiev, Ukraine, more quickly."
Why US War Tactics Are Failing in Ukraine
The Ukrainian military has assimilated NATO combat tactics into their armed forces, as well as Western weapons, including US-supplied tanks and armored vehicles, more than two months into their summer counteroffensive.
However, according to a story in The New York Times on Wednesday, NATO training may not have been as beneficial as intended.
According to the publication, "Ukraine's army has for now set aside US fighting methods and reverted to tactics it knows best."
Experts told Newsweek that there is one major explanation behind this. NATO countries value integrated armaments or the cooperation of all military components. However, Ukrainian troops require air superiority to succeed with Western and NATO tactics, which they do not have.
According to retired British Army Colonel Hamish de Bretton-Gordon, who previously commanded UK and NATO chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear defense forces, "For the Western approach to work effectively, you need all elements, and a key element of that is airpower."
In June, Ukraine claimed its forces were moving along in its counteroffensive but were battling to counter Russian air and artillery power, which was impeding their advances in the east and south.
Read more: NATO military instructors train Azov soldiers, documents reveal
