[Right_Wing_Madman]

The French did not commit any tanks to Ukraine. Why did the US bully and beat up Germany for tanks, but leave France alone? Because US neocons genuinely fear revival of a German-Russian alliance. That's why they destroyed the Nord Stream pipelines. Germans are super mad about all this and we could be heading towards a fracturing of NATO, especially if Ukraine is defeated.

[RedMonqey]

Educate me on this.

If the Germans are so upset about the Nord being blown up, why did they send their tanks to Ukraine?

[buwaya]

France has too few modern French tanks (the 220 or so Leclerc’s in French service) to give, and these will be hopeless to support what with limited parts availability and few technicians anywhere.

The same objection applies to the British Challenger IIs.

Neither of the above are in production so there isn’t good tech support available. And neither country can give many, as there are few spare tanks beyond those already in active service.

There are 2000+ Leopard IIs in Europe alone, with parts and engines and many experienced techs, etc. available. And it is still in production, albeit at a low rate. And there are or will be at least 500 redundant units available for transfer.

The Leopard II is thus, by far, the preferred Euro tank to transfer.

The US has even more spare M1 Abrams, there being over 3,500 in reserve, beyond those @2500 in use by the US Army and National Guard, plus spares and prepositioned equipment.

[ansel12]

“France could agree to Volodymyr Zelensky’s demands for fighter jets to defend Ukraine’s skies, the chairman of the French defence committee said on Thursday.”