The United Kingdom has donated 14 Challenger 2s. But more than a hundred are German-made Leopard 1s 85 are newer Leopard 2s. Most of Ukraine’s replacement tanks are Soviet-style T-72s that might be a generation less sophisticated than the best Russian T-90s are. Ukraine’s foreign allies have pledged to the war effort nearly 800 tanks: enough to make good 15 months of losses and simultaneously equip several newly-established brigades. What’s different about Ukraine’s losses is that it, unlike Russia, can tap large domestic reserves as well as several outside sources of replacement tanks. Around half have been knocked out or captured. Ukrainian forces went to war with just a thousand active tanks: upgraded T-64s, mostly. Like time-machines from the middle of the Cold War. More than a few T-55s have showed up in Ukraine with their original optics. So as Russian tank losses have exceeded 2,000 vehicles, the sophistication of replacement tanks has plummeted. Along with a dearth of good ball-bearings, a shortage of modern sights is the major bottleneck preventing the Kremlin from producing new tanks and upgrading old tanks. Russian industry struggles to produce high-grade optics. The tank also would get new radios and machine guns and-if the four-person crew is lucky-new day-night optics to replace sights that were obsolete 40 years ago. Even if the tank’s 800-horsepower diesel engine is intact, it will need new seals. In any event, the Russians can’t just haul a 1958-vintage T-55 from the 1295th Central Tank Reserve and Storage Base in eastern Russia and ship it to the Ukraine front.
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