Spain is preparing a new shipment of battle tanks to Ukraine to try to confront the offensive that Russia is expected to launch in the coming months. As Defense sources confirm to La Vanguardia, there will be 19 Leopard 2A4s of the Army, which must be ready at the Santa Bárbara Sistemas factory in Alcalá de Guadaíra (Seville). The shipment will be made in two shipments: ten battle tanks before the end of June and another nine in September.
This was ordered yesterday by the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, who met in Moncloa – accompanied by Minister Margarita Robles – with the main companies in the defense sector in Spain. During the meeting, Sánchez reiterated the Government’s resounding condemnation of Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, two years after the start of said aggression a few days ago. And it is in this context that the new shipment, advanced by ABC, will occur.
At a time when, according to experts, there could be a sudden imbalance in favor of Russia without a real response capacity on the part of Ukraine, the President of the Government was interested in knowing what the Spanish industry could contribute for future shipments. The head of Defense, in an interview last Sunday with La Vanguardia, already spoke that the Government would make “an important effort” soon.
Having discarded the capabilities of the Air Force and the Navy, all eyes were once again on the Air Force, which has stored combat tanks for more than a decade in the Logistics Support Group No. 41 of Casetas, in Zaragoza. It is from the same location where ten of these vehicles were recovered for shipment last year.
Robles assured at the time that the Leopard 2A4 that hibernated in Casetas were “in a sorry state.” However, the Santa Bárbara Sistemas factory managed to get them ready for shipment to Ukrainian soil. Now, it is expected to repeat the operation, but with twice as many vehicles and with a worse starting point than the first ones sent.
The challenge is huge, since, according to sources close to the meeting in Moncloa, Sánchez ordered to have them ready for shipment at the end of June. The President of the Government’s intention is that when he attends the Atlantic Alliance summit to be held in Washington on July 9, the battle tanks will already be in Ukraine.
