MOSCOW, August 14. /TASS/. The US and the UK seek to protect the prestige of their defense industries as long as possible as they delay the supplies of their Abrams and Challenger tanks to Kiev in order to keep them out of harm’s way, Alexander Mikhailov, the head of the Bureau of Military and Political Analysis, told TASS.
Instead, German-made Leopard armored vehicles get burned down on the battlefield, dimming the prospects for Germany’s arms manufacturers, he said.
Mikhailov was commenting on Western news media reports that UK-made Challenger 2 had so far been unseen at the battle front, even though the UK was supposed to provide them to Ukraine. The analyst said he agreed with his Western counterparts that it was a vivid example of the tactic, often used by the US and the UK, to sit on the sidelines and not go beyond promises after pushing an ally to make some significant steps. He said it was anticipated that "the Americans and the British will be sure to make that move."
The analyst said that the Ukrainian Armed Forces had lost 25 Leopards during the two months of their counteroffensive.
"The Germans themselves are openly asking their British partners and American handlers on NATO platforms: ‘Why did you cheat us big time and did not give us the opportunity to move in lockstep when transferring tanks? If we give away tanks for slaughter, then let's sync up and also do it in equal quantities.’ Instead, it turns out that the British and the Americans set the Germans up for this unpleasant blow," the analyst said.
He said that the US is delaying the delivery of Abrams tanks, pretending there’s a lack of infrastructure in Eastern Europe, while the British are following suit and are in no hurry either to send their Challenger 2 tanks to the theater of military operations. As a result, the German-made Leopard tanks that were earlier delivered to Kiev, which had been in service in countries both in and out of NATO and had good value in the Middle East and Asian markets, continue to suffer irreparable losses to their reputation.
Damage to reputation
However, this burden on the German defense industry hasn’t encouraged the UK to step up, Mikhailov said. The analyst is convinced that London will not dare to supply tanks to Ukraine ahead of its US allies and will continue to delay the inconvenient costs.
"If Challengers will appear in the theater of military operations specifically in Donbass, it won’t be until after the Americans send their Abrams tanks because the British, although they are the overseers over the united Europe on behalf of Washington, understand that in this case their reputational damage will affect them to the same extent as the US because the Challenger is as much a trademark of Britain as the new generation of Abrams tanks is for the US and as the new generation of Leopards is for Germany and Leclerc tanks for the French," Mikhailov said. "Each country inside NATO that produces expensive weapons seeks to support the prestige of its own enterprises and is not interested in reputational damage."
The analyst also said that if the destruction of German machines continues while the Americans and the British are still preparing for decisive action, the German defense industry will be set for a bleak future.