Every day of the week, from eight in the morning to eight in the afternoon, except Saturday afternoon.
The 55 Ukrainian soldiers who arrived in Zaragoza last month to train in the use and maintenance of the Leopard 2 A4 tanks have undergone this intense instruction, the same ones that Spain plans to send to Ukraine in the coming weeks. . With the intensive course about to end, the soldiers are scheduled to return to their country via Poland on March 15, ready to go into combat.
That the training has been restricted to only four weeks – they arrived on February 13 – is due to the fact that most of these soldiers are tankers or mechanical battleship specialists with previous combat experience.
This has made things “much” easier and helped their training, so now they travel to Ukraine “with a very acceptable knowledge” of the Leopard 2 A4, in the words of Captain Contreras, head of the training module for Ukrainian personnel from the Regiment. Alcántara de Melilla Cavalry
During this period of intense work, theoretical training has been combined with practice, first in simulators and later in the San Gregorio maneuver field with ten Leopard tanks, six from Zaragoza and another four from Toledo.
For the training, some 30 Spanish troops between tank crews and maintenance specialists have traveled from Melilla, and a dozen translators, mainly Ukrainian women, have participated.
Of these 55 Ukrainian soldiers selected by their authorities, all men between the ages of 21 and 60, 40 have been trained in driving armored vehicles (ten crews of four members each with a tank leader, driver, loader and shooter) and another 15 are technical specialists: 5 mechanics, 5 electronics and 5 weapons specialists.
The Leopard 2 A4 battle tank dates from the end of the 20th century and has been the basis for the development of one of the most modern and effective battle tanks used by Western countries, the Leopard 2 A6.
According to the captain, the Leopard 2 A4 with which the Ukrainians have been trained and which they will later use in the war are “quite superior” to other armored vehicles deployed on the ground, for which the soldiers have been “satisfied”. “They have a good range and are equipped with thermal cameras,” he added.
Regarding the morale of the troops, the Ukrainian soldiers consider that the war “is going well, but it could go better”, which partly explains their motivation and willingness to learn. “They really want to return to contribute to the defense of their country,” said Captain Contreras.
The Leopard management and maintenance courses were launched after the Spanish commitment was formalized to contribute to the Ukrainian defensive effort with the contribution of several of these battle tanks.
Initially it was planned to send six units, which are being set up in Seville these days and are expected to be ready by the end of this month. However, the Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, raised the number to 10 on his visit to Kyiv two weeks ago.
But the training and instruction work in Spain for Ukrainian personnel goes beyond the Leopard. According to the Ministry of Defense, more than 500 Ukrainians are currently being trained in the country in different locations and courses.
This is the case of the 198 soldiers – mostly mobilized civilians with no previous military experience – who arrived in January to participate in a basic combat training module. Or of the two contingents that recently landed to participate in a basic course in the Hawk anti-aircraft system, of which Spain has donated several launchers to Ukraine.
