Some Shoot Far, Some Shoot Farther. Ukraine Is Forming A Mixed Battalion With Different German, Portuguese And Swedish Tanks.

Sweden is the latest country to offer Ukraine Leopard 2 tanks. “Sweden is joining the ‘Leopard family’ in support of Ukraine,” Swedish prime minister Ulf Kristersson announced Friday.

The 10 Swedish tanks will join similar, but not identical, tanks from Germany and Portugal—and form what the German defense ministry described as a “mixed Ukrainian battalion.”

Emphasis on mixed. The 18 Leopard 2A6s from Germany and three Leopard 2A6s from Portugal pack powerful, 55-caliber main guns, whereas the 10 Swedish Stridsvagn 122s—local derivatives of the Leopard 2A5—come armed with short, 44-caliber versions of the same 120-millimeter smoothbore gun.

The 2A6s are long-range killers. The Strv 122s, while still world-class tanks, have to get a lot closer to the enemy for their guns to work.

That Ukraine must blend different tank types in the same battalions underscores the country’s struggle to secure large donations of Western-style tanks from its European and American allies.

Kyiv is getting its new tanks piecemeal. A battalion of 31 Leopard 2A6s and Strv 122s from Germany, Portugal and Sweden. A battalion of 36 Leopard 2A4s from Poland, Canada, Norway and Spain. Thirty-0ne M-1A2s—again, a battalion’s worth—from the United States. A mere company of 14 Challenger 2s from the United Kingdom.

The only Western tank type Ukraine is getting in sufficient numbers for one or more brigade sets is the thinly-armored Leopard 1A5, the predecessor of the Leopard 2. Germany, Denmark, The Netherlands and potentially Belgium are buying back at least 100, and as many as 237, Leopard 1s from private arms-dealers for onward transfer to Ukraine.

Armies tend to fight as battalions. And for the sake of logistical efficiency, a battalion commander naturally would prefer to have one type of tank in his inventory.

Mismatching tanks also can complicate tactics. Consider that the Leopard 2A6 with its 22-foot-long gun can fire a shell out to three miles. That’s around a mile farther than the Leopard 2A5, or Strv 122, can shoot with its own 17-foot gun.

The Ukrainian commander of a mixed tank battalion might look to history for inspiration. The German army in World War II was famous for forming ad hoc units called Kampfgruppen.

A battalion-size Kampfgruppe might include several different vehicle types. German commanders were famous for their organizational flexibility and tactical aggression, however, so they tended to adapt quickly and put to good use whatever weaponry they had on hand.

Half-tracks meant to haul artillery became scout vehicles. Flak guns designed to shoot down enemy planes became anti-tank weapons.

A Kampfgruppe’s weakness often was logistics. One large German mechanized formation at the Battle of the Bulge in 1944 infamously had 60 different truck types in its inventory. It was impossible to sustain such a diverse fleet. “Spare parts … hardly existed,” U.S. Army major James Kennedy wrote in a 2000 monograph.

The logistical demands of mixed tank units could vex Ukrainian commanders, too. But with their existing holdings of ex-Soviet T-64 tanks dwindling, the Ukrainians aren’t in a position to say no when their allies offer up small batches of mismatching tanks.