Despite the fact that initially the British Challenger 2 tanks transfer was supposed to be in March, the terms turned out to be different. 14 vehicles with trained crews will arrive in Ukraine in Summer, namely in May.
British Secretary of State for Defense Ben Wallace announced this during a parliamentary session, saying that it will happen probably closer to Easter. Considering the fact that Catholic Easter this year falls on April 9, it is likely to be in May this year.
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At the same time, such a period is tied to conducting training on these vehicles, as the head of the British Ministry of Defense noted that Ukrainian tank operators will not only master the Challenger 2, but also learn to use them as part of units.
Defense Express also reminds that the majority of Western experts noted that the training period on Western tanks will last about 8 weeks. So, the estimated arrival time is likely to be in March or in early April.
Apparently, the training period depends not only on the ability to master the tanks or interact within the tank company. Great Britain this year alone plans to train 19,200 Ukrainian soldiers. Also, London announced the transfer of not only tanks, but also other weapons, in particular a battery of AS-90 self-propelled guns of 8 units (up to 30 additional units in the future overall) and a hundred of the FV430 Mk3 Bulldog tracked armored personnel carriers. That is, even then there were talks about a kit-wise supply.
And this together is actually the basis of a mechanized brigade. Consequently, the full training, along with combat coordination, can be carried out directly in Great Britain and eventually Ukraine gets a combat-ready unit. And such a scenario, despite the longer term, is many times more effective than obtaining 14 tanks with their specific use and trying to "squeeze" them into a tank or mechanized brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine along with the T-64 and BMP-2.
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