Two Scandinavian countries at once, Finland and Sweden, have declared their intentions to strengthen Ukraine with tanks. In particular, Finnish Minister of Defense Mikko Savola said at a media briefing that the country was preparing its heavy armor for a transfer.
But despite the expectations for the Leopard 2 tanks, according to the official message of the country's Defense Ministry, three Leopard 2R vehicles will be sent instead. This equipment is made on the basis of Leopard 2 and is intended for demining works.
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The provision of Leopard 2R from Finland will be included in the new 13th military aid package with a total value exceeding 160 million euros. The rest of the items in this package, as well as the terms of its supply and other details would not be disclosed for security reasons, the Finnish Ministry of Defense noted.
As a reminder, previously, Helsinki already mentioned that Finland will unlikely be able to give Ukraine its own Leopard 2 tanks for a very obvious reason – the 1000-km border this country shares with the russian federation, added to the fact Finland is not yet a member of NATO. However, the decision to provide such a demining tank is as important as main battle tanks, because such vehicles as the Leopard 2R are a "must-have" for the engineering unit of any tank brigade.
At the same time, Sweden's Defense Minister Pål Jonson stated that his country was open to sending some of its Leopard 2 main battle tanks to Ukraine, as quoted by Reuters. There's a chance that these vehicles will be included already in the next military assistance package from Sweden, which may also include Archer artillery systems, promised to Ukraine last month. Besides, back then Stockholm also sent up to 50 CV9040 infantry fighting vehicles for the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
Notice that Sweden has in service Strv 122 tanks which are a somewhat modified local version of Leopard 2A5. In total, the country has up to 120 such vehicles of this type.
It should be noted that Sweden's weapons are Strv 122 tanks, which are a somewhat modified localized version of Leopard 2A5. In total, the country has up to 120 such machines.
We should as well recall Ukrainian Minister of Defense Oleksii Reznikov's words that it will be possible to make up two tank battalions with the Leopard tanks provided by all the allies combined, and in a short-term perspective. However, the process of making a tank brigade in the near future has faced some difficult issues.
Although, most likely, these challenges will be resolved quite quickly, because, for example, Spain has recently announced the transfer of six Leopard 2A4 while having a potential to give 44 more from its reserves. Moreover, their restoration to combat-ready condition is carried out by Spain itself.
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