France could be the next state to send out its tanks to Ukraine, but officials be concerned they could be ‘a poisoned chalice’

• Western nations around the world have dedicated to give dozens of tanks to Ukraine in the latest months.

• France is also taking into consideration sending its Leclerc tanks to Ukraine.

• Some French officials are apprehensive that their tanks would create new logistical challenges for Kyiv.

With a number of Western nations now pledging tanks for Ukraine, speculation is mounting that France may send out its Leclerc main battle tanks.

But French protection officers query how handy the Leclerc would be, as Ukrainians now encounter the problem of incorporating various Western tanks, together with the US’s M1 Abrams, Britain’s Challenger 2, and Germany’s Leopard 2.

These layouts are extra intricate than the Soviet- and Russian-built tanks that Ukraine had prior to the war, so necessitating Ukrainian crews to master new gear, strategies, and routine maintenance. Individuals considerations appear to trump earlier anxieties that providing tanks to Ukraine could inflame disputes in NATO or provoke Russian retaliation.

“There is no political objection,” a French defense formal advised information assistance Agence France-Presse this week. “We are just asking yourself irrespective of whether the Leclerc would be a poisoned chalice. The intention is to be handy and efficient.”

Ukraine would beg to vary. Desperate for any tanks they can get, Ukrainian troops would gladly consider the Leclerc, one particular of the much more superior tanks in the globe.

Made for pace and firepower, the Leclerc can use its French-made 120 mm smoothbore cannon and state-of-the-art sensors to interact targets though on the go. The most recent model of the Leclerc can arrive at a speed of 50 mph and wipe out a concentrate on as much as 2.5 miles absent, the commander of a French tank regiment instructed Le Monde.

As with other French weapons as a result of the a long time, the Leclerc is a very little unique than its foreign counterparts.

Weighing in at close to 57 tons, it is lesser and lighter than the 80-ton M1A3 Abrams, the 64-ton Challenger 2, and the 62-ton Leopard 2. It is in all probability much less effectively armored than a late-model Abrams or Challenger 2, while it does mount Explosive Reactive Armor rates to deflect anti-tank rounds.

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Also strange is that the Leclerc only has a three-individual crew instead than the four typical in Western tanks. (Russia tanks these types of as the T-72 and T-90 have a crew of three.) The Leclerc, as perfectly as Russian tanks, use an autoloader to feed shells into the cannon.

Although this allows the motor vehicle to be smaller, the autoloader is extra vulnerable to malfunction. It also indicates a single significantly less crewman to stand check out and accomplish maintenance, which prospects to far more get the job done for the a few-human being crew.

Examining the general performance of the Leclerc is relatively tough offered the tank’s limited fight record. It to start with entered French services in 1991, when it was viewed as the most costly tank in the planet, which may possibly have hampered its export prospective clients.

Other than France, only the United Arab Emirates obtained the Leclerc (some of which it afterwards donated to Jordan). The UAE operates 258 vehicles, some of which observed beat when it intervened in Yemen’s civil war. Some assert it performed superior than the M1 Abrams tanks that Saudi Arabia has employed in that conflict.

Some 862 Leclercs were built right before generation ceased in 2008: France operates 222, and 50 of those have been not long ago slated for enhance to the XLR version.

The Leclerc’s lighter pounds may well make it additional maneuverable than the other Western tanks headed to Ukraine. On the other hand, however another tank design means the Ukrainian military will have to deal with yet a further set of tactical and logistical variations.

If France only sends a little variety of tanks — just as Britain is only sending 14 Challenger 2s — then it would call for a great deal of overhead for a somewhat smaller overcome ability.

Also sizeable is that contrary to the Abrams and Leopard 2, there are only three nations that operate the Leclerc. Really should complications occur with French deliveries, Ukraine would have difficulty acquiring other resources of motor vehicles and spare sections.

Nonetheless, the Leclerc would be a formidable — and most likely remarkable — opponent of Russian tanks these kinds of as the T-72 and T-90. At the least, France would be giving Ukraine a authentic tank.

The AMX-10RC, which France recently pledged to Ukraine, has been identified as a “light-weight tank.” In actuality, it really is an armored automobile with a huge cannon but light-weight armor, and it just isn’t designed for slugging it out with enemy tanks.

France has also despatched Caesar self-propelled 155 mm howitzers, as perfectly as Crotale cellular anti-plane missiles. Ukraine may perhaps also receive the much more innovative French-Italian SAMP-T/Mamba air-defense method. But other than Rafale jet fighters, the most impressive weapon — symbolically and militarily — that France could give would be Leclerc tanks.

Michael Peck is a defense writer whose perform has appeared in Forbes, Protection Information, Overseas Plan journal, and other publications. He holds a master’s in political science. Follow him on Twitter and LinkedIn.

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