Spain to send additional Leopard tanks to bolster Ukraine's defense capabilities
Spain is preparing to dispatch a new shipment of combat tanks to Ukraine, reports Infodefensa citing sources within the country's defense ministry. The delivery will consist of 19 Leopard 2A4 tanks, set to be readied at the Santa Bárbara Sistemas factory in Alcalá de Guadaíra, Seville. The delivery is slated to be in two parts: ten tanks by the end of June, followed by a further nine in September.
The direction for the provision was given by Spain’s Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, who, alongside Defense Minister Margarita Robles, met with representatives of the main defense sector companies in Spain. During the meeting, Sánchez confirmed the government’s firm condemnation of Russian aggression against Ukraine, and it is in this context that the new delivery is taking place.
At a time when experts believe a sudden imbalance might arise in Russia's favor, lacking a real counter-response capability by Ukraine, the Prime Minister enquired about how the Spanish industry could contribute to future supplies.
Discarding potential Air Force and Navy options, focus was again on the army, which has been storing combat tanks at the Material and Technical Supply Group No. 41 in Casetas, Zaragoza, for over a decade. It was from this location that ten such machines were extracted and dispatched last year.
At the time, Robles assured that the Leopard 2A4s in Casetas were "in a deplorable state." Nevertheless, the Santa Bárbara Sistemas plant managed to refurbish them for delivery to Ukraine. Now, it is anticipated that an operation involving double the number of machines and in worse initial condition than those previously sent will be repeated.
Sánchez has instructed that the tanks be made ready for delivery by the end of June. The Prime Minister intends that by the time he attends the NATO summit scheduled for July 9 in Washington, the combat tanks will already be in Ukraine.