Why Western Weapons Arrive in Ukraine So Slowly: Spain’s Experience with Leopard 2A4 Tanks
Spain has already prepared the first batch of 10 Leopard 2A4 tanks for the Armed Forces of Ukraine. There are two batches of these tanks for Ukraine in 2024. The next nine vehicles are to be delivered in September this year.
According to the Ministry of Defense of Spain, these 10 tanks have already been formally given to Ukraine. However, it will take a lot of organizational efforts and at least two weeks to deliver them to Ukrainian military. And this clearly illustrates why weapons from Western countries can be delivered so slowly.
According to the Ministry of Defense of Spain, these 10 tanks were delivered from the city of Seville, where they were being restored, to the port of Ferrol. There, they were loaded onto a roll-on/roll-off ship that set sail on July 13 this year. It is known that it should arrive at one of the Polish ports by the end of this week.
After that, the “most crucial stage of delivery” should begin. It should be accompanied by secrecy and will be completed after the Ukrainian Armed Forces actually receive the tanks.
At first glance, the described scheme looks extremely illogical. Why is it necessary to build such a complicated route, using sea delivery that will definitely be slower than any land transportation?
But the answer is quite simple: it is necessary to avoid “prying eyes” during building delivery routes to Ukraine. This is why the delivery’s speed suffers.
Although the “prying eyes” factor significantly slows down traffic, it solves another problem: to deliver the cargo in such a way that it couldn’t be damaged by russian intelligence. It is turning into a separate threat factor for Western countries as well during russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine.
Earlier War Ukraine-Russia News Hub reported that Spain had been ready to supply 50 advanced ASCOD IFVs annually as aid.