Ukraine’s Leopard Tank Crews Are Trained and Ready to Fight

The Leopards are here at last. After months of waiting, Leopards 2, powerful German-built main battle tanks, are finally arriving in Ukraine. It took a lot of asking, a lot of public pressure, and a lot of agonizing among the donors before the tanks were confirmed. But the final hurdle was training. There were fears that Ukrainian soldiers were not trained to use the tanks, and that the mighty—and expensive—machines might be wasted. Now that training is happening. “I’ve never seen a more motivated group,” a Norwegian trainer told me. The 93 percent accuracy the first group achieved in its final live-fire exercise suggests the tanks are in good hands.

“Trust me, trust the government,” German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said when he announced, on Jan. 25, that Germany would be sending 14 Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine. The German chancellor knew that a vocal chunk of the German public (43 percent just before his decision) opposed sending Ukraine main battle tanks—but that a larger chunk (46 percent) supported doing so and other Western countries had already decided to give Ukraine some of their Leopards.

In total, twelve countries, including Finland, Norway, and Poland, have pledged to donate some 100 Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine. “This donation is an important and requested contribution,” Norway’s defense minister, Bjorn Arild Gram, told me. “It’s more crucial than ever to support Ukraine’s defense struggle. The situation in Ukraine is approaching a critical phase and they are dependent on rapid and extensive Western support.”

While German pacifists opposed the tank donations on ideological grounds, other governments worried about weakening their own defenses, especially with an aggressive and out-of-control Russia on the border. But Gram—who served at the Norway-Russian border as a conscript—told me: “We believe that with this donation of tanks, Norway will still have a satisfactory national preparedness. And we believe it’s absolutely right to take away our own material to support Ukraine. It’s important for Norwegian and European security that Russia doesn’t win with its aggression against Ukraine.”

Norway’s Leopards are of the older 2A4 variety, while the ones donated by Germany are newer 2A6s. The different models, though, are operated in the same way. Russia has one of the world’s largest tank fleets, but it’s a lot less large than it used to be. Since in invasion of Ukraine began in February last year, it has lost an estimated 38 percent of its fleet, according to calculations by the International Institute of Strategic Studies think tank in London. Yet that means it still has some 1,800 tanks.

Ukrainian forces have, in fact, managed to capture and use some of Russia’s tanks, and are now thought to have some 950 tanks. These, though, are of the Soviet T varieties. The Leopard 2, considered to be one of the world’s very best main battle tanks, is larger than the T-72 and features superior optical capabilities (including at night). It can hit targets from a distance of 8,000 meters, while the T-72 only has a range of 3,000 to 5,000 meters.

Now the much-asked-for Leopard 2 tanks are arriving in Ukraine. At the same time, selected Ukrainian soldiers are travelling westwards to be trained on the sophisticated weapons that—as their manufacturer Krauss-Maffei Wegmann puts it—are “based on the unique symbiosis between vehicle crew and cutting-edge German-made technology.”

“We finished training our first group of Ukrainians and are currently training the second one,” Norwegian Army Maj. Thomas—whose last name can’t be used due to security reasons—told me. Thomas leads the Norwegian team now training Ukrainian soldiers at the Leopard training center in Poland (a part of the Polish Army’s 10th Armored Cavalry Brigade).

Thomas and his team were dispatched to Poland as soon as Norway decided to give Ukraine eight of its Leopards, because training crews for the sophisticated tanks take a long time. “Due to the urgency of the war, we’re doing our standard Norwegian course at a higher tempo, which we thought would be a challenge; but I’ve never seen a more motivated group of people!” Thomas told me. “They really understand what we’re training them in. A few of them have been fighting in this war since 2014, and many others since the early months of 2022. They’re very good at acquiring new knowledge.”

The Norwegians, who train Ukrainian tank crews in cooperation with Polish and Canadian instructors, teach seven crews at a time. The tank uses a four-person crew, so that means the instructors have 28 pupils at a time. The tank school does indeed take place at a rapid tempo. “Five weeks, Monday to Saturday, dawn to dusk,” Thomas explained. “The soldiers obviously already have combat experience, and they have experience using Soviet-era tanks. That’s an advantage. Our job is to retrain them, to help them forget the Soviet T-72s and T-64s and learn to use the Leopard.” The Leopard training center features simulators, Leopard mock-ups, and Polish-owned Leopards.

At the Leopard training center, each week features theory lessons in Leopards combined with extensive training on maneuvers, operating the turret in all its operation modes, understanding the fire-control system in its different operating modes, and about the engine’s components and functions. Because the Leopard 2 features advanced optical systems that allow the gunner and commander to spot the enemy in the dark, it’s crucial for gunners to learn to use the Leopard gunner’s sight. There’s also a great deal of simulator training and live-fire training, both during the day and at night.

Thomas agreed to share with me some of his notes from the training of the first group: “Most have been trained on the T-72B2, T-64, or BMP.” (The BMP is a Soviet tracked infantry fighting vehicle.) “Many have lost crew members or have seen their tank severely damaged by enemy fire earlier in the war.” “They meticulously take notes.” “They’re polite and really value the instructors’ expertise.” “They’re not used to this kind of training where the students and the learning are at the focus.”

Among the first group, the soldiers’ average age was 40 to 45. “And the oldest was 56,” Thomas said. “They were so incredibly motivated.” This time around, the average age is around 30, with the youngest participant in his very early twenties.

The five-week course ends with a live-fire exercise—a litmus test of how successful the training has been. In the first course, the soldiers achieved an astonishing 93 percent accuracy. An informal poll I conducted found that non-Ukrainian Leopard 2 trainees over the years have typically achieved an average of 90 percent. Such results, combined with the Leopards’ better power and performance compared to the T-model tanks, will bring the Ukrainian armed forces tangible advantages. “It feels like a privilege to be able to help the Ukrainians in this way,” Thomas told me. “It’s a massive opportunity to be able to contribute in this way.”

The second group now undergoing training at the Leopard training center appears equally skilled. There are another 28 soldiers—crews for another seven Leopards. The 100 donated Leopard 2 tanks are an impressive number, certainly compared to the zero Leopard donations made by the end of 2022. But Ukraine says that in order to counter Russia’s next offensive, it needs some 200 or 300 Leopards.

“Instructors are training Leo crews in Canada and Germany as well, so training is not the problem,” said retired Maj. Gen. Pekka Toveri, a former chief of Finnish military intelligence and newly elected member of the Finnish Parliament. “The challenge is to get enough tanks, [infantry fighting vehicles], armored howitzers, and engineer vehicles to equip six Ukrainian brigades. Now they have enough only for two. And we need to train the troops and leaders to conduct offensive combined arms operations at the brigade level. With six well-trained mechanized brigades with Western equipment spearheading twelve with older equipment, the Ukrainians could do it.”

Collectively, European countries own some 2,000 Leopard 2 tanks, some more of which they could arguably give Ukraine. Greece, for example, owns around 350 Leopard 2 tanks but has so far declined to donate a single one because it says it needs them for defense against fellow NATO member Turkey, which owns nearly 320 such tanks. Norway has around 30 more Leopard 2s.

Thomas, of course, doesn’t get to decide about the donations. What he does know is this, he said: “I’ll be teaching Leopard 2 crews here at the Leopard training center for as long as countries keep donating the tanks.”