Following the announcement on Wednesday, January 25, that German Leopards and American Abrams tanks would be sent to Ukraine, the question quickly arose of whether France would follow suit and deliver modern heavy tanks to Ukraine. France's army could either part with some of its 226 tracked Leclercs, or only send AMX10-RCs, a light-wheeled tank being phased out of service, as French President Emmanuel Macron announced on January 4.
Officially, "discussions" have been taking place for several weeks between Paris and Kyiv on supplying Leclercs to Ukrainian forces but no final decision has been taken. According to the Élysée Palace, the subject was discussed again by the French president during a telephone exchange on Tuesday, January 24, with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky. "Exchanges between French and Ukrainian experts are continuing, notably to estimate the cost-benefit ratio of such a supply," explained an official source, ruling out the hypothesis of rapid delivery.
Battle tanks are unique in that, as the spearhead of land forces, they are the only vehicle combining mobility (with tracks), protection (with armor) and firepower (with 120mm guns). "A Leclerc can travel at up to 80 km/h and destroy a target located up to 4,000 meters away while it protects its crew from enemy fire," said Colonel Alexandre de Féligonde, commander of the 1st "Hunter" Regiment (historically a cavalry unit) in Verdun, northeastern France, who commands the squadron of 13 Leclerc tanks sent by France to Romania to defend Europe's eastern flank after the invasion of Ukraine.
According to a military source, the only problem is that these steel monsters weigh more than 50 tons and are "as robust as they are fragile." It is often overlooked that a modern tank in combat requires a great deal of logistical support in terms of fuel and ammunition supply and, especially, maintenance. Mechanized unit specialists are known to say that when one tank is rolling, two are immobilized. In Romania, some 200 men from the 1st Hunter Regiment, accompanied by two recovery tanks, were deployed to take care of the handful of Leclercs sent. Moscow lost dozens of tanks at the beginning of its offensive in Ukraine: left to attack Kyiv without support, some of the Russian T-72 and T-80 tanks had to be abandoned by their crews, which had run out of fuel or simply could not be repaired.
'Nothing is excluded'
Although the various Western models have similar performances, they each have different characteristics which make their maintenance in operational condition (MCO) extremely difficult in Ukraine. As the only tank with a rifled gun, the British Challenger cannot, for example, fire the shells intended for the smoothbore guns of its competitors, even if they are of the same caliber. Similarly, the American Abrams is powered by a turbine engine originally designed for a helicopter instead of a diesel engine and requires special skills and maintenance. Spares also vary greatly from one tank to another: these added factors make a real headache for logisticians and mechanics.
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