The Swiss authorities said that they rejected a request by arms manufacturing company Ruag AG for permission to sell nearly a hundred Leopard 1 A5 tanks to Germany for their subsequent transfer to Ukraine.
“The Federal Council on June 28 rejected a request from Ruag AG concerning the export of 96 Leopard 1 A5 tanks destined for Ukraine, as it is contrary to current legislation,” the Swiss Federal Council said in a statement issued Wednesday.
The council explained that such a sale would violate Swiss law in force. In addition, the deal “would violate Switzerland’s position on neutrality.”
Ruag AG submitted an export request to the authorities on June 27 for the resale of 96 used and inoperable Leopard 1 A5 tanks. The tanks are currently in storage in Italy and need to be repaired in Germany before being shipped elsewhere.
The Leopard 1 was the main battle tank of the FRG until the 1980s. It was produced from 1965 to 1984 and was in service with the Federal Republic of Germany until 2010. More than a dozen countries still have it in their armed forces, including Greece, Turkey, Brazil, Italy, Chile, Australia and Canada; the tank is continuously upgraded. Totally more than 4.7 thousand tanks of this model were produced. The tank is equipped with a 105mm rifled gun with a load of 60 rounds. The tank is equipped with optical stereoscopic rangefinder, binocular, monocular with night channel and telescopic sights. Speed of the Leopard 1 on a highway is 62 km/h, range – 600 km.
The German government has approved the supply of Leopard 1 main battle tanks to Ukraine. A total of 88 tanks from the Rheinmetall Group and 99 tanks from Flensburger Fahrzeugbau Gesellschaft have been approved for export, Business Insider reported.
It is noted that the official figures will be released on Tuesday.
At the same time, the publication’s sources in the German government say, funding for tank repairs has not yet been secured. It should be definitively clarified only in the next few weeks.
In addition, the first tanks are not expected to be delivered until the middle of this year. The exact number of them has not yet been established, insiders say, it also depends on funding. It is also unclear whether all 187 Leopard 1s will eventually be combat-ready, or whether many of the tanks will have to be used as spare parts depots.
Furthermore, private conversations within the government also point out that the military and strategic significance of tank delivery is not so much in the vehicles themselves, but in the change in the ammunition used. The Leopard tanks use the NATO standard 105mm caliber, which means a much better supply of ammunition for Ukraine, as it cannot produce ammunition for its old Soviet tanks itself. In the long run, this could increase the resilience of the Ukrainian army.
