The German government offered Greece to transfer its own Leopard 1 tanks to Ukraine in exchange for the same number of upgraded vehicles.
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This is reported by the Greek edition of Flight.
Germany offered a circular exchange of Greece with the replacement of obsolete tanks with the former Italian Leopard 1A5, the transfer of which to Ukraine was previously blocked by the Swiss government.
“Militarny” writes that the incentive for a new iteration of the circular exchange for the Greek side should be to receive vehicles that will undergo a major overhaul, as well as updating the fire control system on EMES 18 with new thermal imaging sights. Tanks will receive an additional armor package.
According to the publication, the only requirement from Germany to the Greek government as part of a circular exchange is the transfer of tanks in working order. This is an important clarification, because Greek vehicles have not been overhauled for a long time, a large number of them are in a non-combat-ready state.
Portal Military assumes that up to 100 Greek tanks can be exchanged in relation to each other. All costs for modernization and transfer must be covered by Germany.
The exchange of equipment can probably take place following the experience of the already existing trilateral agreement, thanks to which Ukraine received Greek BMP-1s in exchange for German Marder 1s. At that time, Ukraine received from Greece in several batches the same number of vehicles that Germany transferred.
The total tank fleet of Leopard 1 Greece has about 500 vehicles. It consists mainly of machines in the Leopard 1A5/GR version. However, not all of them are in working condition.
The Leopard 1GR are actually upgraded Leopard 1A3 tanks. that were purchased from the Bundeswehr in the amount of 104 units. They received a more modern fire control system EMES 12A3.
Also in service with the country is a certain number of Leopard 1Vs, which once belonged to the Royal Netherlands Army and actually belong to the Leopard 1A4 generation, which at one time received a new fire control system EMES 12A3.
Greek tanks Leopard 1 for 30 years – from the moment they entered the ranks of the armed forces – have not undergone any upgrades and are in a worn-out condition due to the lack of major repairs. Some of their components, such as sights, are no longer produced by the manufacturer and are not distributed on the market.
Source: Racurs
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