Ukraine Could Get 237 Leopard 1A5 Tanks—Assuming Someone Can Cut A Deal With A Belgian Arms-Dealer

The governments of Belgium, Denmark, Germany and The Netherlands are trying to scrape up all the old Leopard 1A5 tanks in Europe and send them to Ukraine.

There’s just one problem. Fifty of the 1980s-vintage tanks belong to Belgian arms-dealer Freddy Versluys—and he’s holding out for a higher price than Belgian defense minister Ludivine Dedonder for one is willing to pay.

The 40-ton Leopard 1A5 is lightly-protected compared to the 70-ton Leopard 2, at least 32 of which Canada, Germany and Poland have pledged to Ukraine.

But the Leopard 1A5 is well-armed with a British-made L7 105-millimeter main gun and has the same precise, long-range optics and fire-control as the contemporaneous Leopard 2A4. Both of the German-designed tanks have a crew of four and a fuel-efficient diesel engine.

All that is to say, the Leopard 1A5 despite its age still is pretty useful as an infantry-support vehicle. When infantry run into an enemy strongpoint, they call in a Leopard to put a few 105-millimeter shells into it.

Just don’t expect the old tanks with their thin steel armor to do what Ukraine’s existing T-64 tanks do—and barrel into point-blank fights with Russian T-72s and T-80s.

Denmark, Germany and The Netherlands on Tuesday formally announced their widely-expected new initiative to supply Leopard 1A5s to Ukraine. The three-way partnership is buying up “at least 100” of the Leopards from “industrial stocks.”

It’s obvious where those first hundred Leopard 1s will come from: German firms Rheinmetall and FFG Flensburger, which respectively have 88 and 99 Leopard 1A5s in storage. The Danish, German and Dutch governments will buy back the stored tanks, pay to refurbish them then transfer them—along with ammunition and spare parts—to the Ukrainian government.

“The first ones [are] being delivered within a few months,” the partnership announced.

“Our ‘Leo 1 A5 Initiative’ is open to further partners,” the three tank-donors explained. “Belgium has also shown initial interest to participate” in the partnership. But Versluys and Dedonder apparently still are haggling over the price of Versluys’s 50 Leopard 1s.

Belgium actually was one of the last European users of the Leopard 1. Greece and Turkey still possess a combined 900 or so of the classic tanks, but the other operators in the early 2000s either converted their tank brigades to the Leopard 2 or entirely disposed of their heavy armor in order to save money.

The Belgian army is in the unfortunate latter camp. The army disbanded its last tank battalion in 2014 and sold its 50 Leopard 1A5s to Versluys’s firm OIP for just $800,000.

Versluys has said he’s open to selling back the tanks for onward transfer to Ukraine. He already has sold 46 M-113 armored personnel carriers to the United Kingdom, which then donated the APCs to Ukraine.

But Versluys reportedly is asking $27 million for the 50 tanks, a price Dedonder called “unreasonable.”

For perspective, the United States last year spent $400 million to buy, for Ukraine, 90 surplus Czech T-72 tanks. But that arms package also included a Hawk air-defense missile battery, 250 wheeled armored vehicles and 40 patrol boats.

Whether and when some government can negotiate a fair price for Versluys’ tanks could determine the ultimate size of Ukraine’s Leopard 1A5 arsenal.

Kyiv eventually should get all 187 of the Leopard 1A5s in storage in Germany. With the Belgian tanks, the total could swell to 237—enough for two brigades.