French diplomacy says that Ukraine was not clear if it needed the Leclercs as a result of their upkeep and restore is extra advanced than that of the Leopard 2, however the French press additionally reported in latest weeks that the French generals didn’t need to do away with their Leclercs as a result of they consider that 226 is an inadequate arsenal for a rustic like France, which 20 years in the past had greater than 800. In addition, solely 60% of the Leclerc, says the newspaper Le Monde, are mobilizable, the remainder is destined for coaching.
French arsenals have been considerably diminished for the reason that finish of the Cold War and the army already needed to see how Macron despatched 18 of the 76 ‘Caesar’ self-propelled artillery items to Ukraine. France went from 37 ocean-going ships to 19 in 30 years, from 600 fight planes to 195.
For now, the French Army is sending the AMX-10 RC gentle armored automobile to Ukraine, a automobile that’s being withdrawn from service and that’s not appropriate for high-intensity battles like heavy tanks. The Elysee stated on a number of events that Macron had mentioned the matter with Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelensky. This one, though it prefers the Leopard 2 or the Abrams, doesn’t disgust the Leclerc, though the extra completely different tanks it has, the extra advanced its upkeep turns into. Also as a result of the Leopard 2 is the most typical tank within the arsenals of Ukraine’s allied nations and due to this fact the one that may get essentially the most items. On the opposite hand, France has not bought the Leclerc to anybody in Europe, solely to Jordan and the United Arab Emirates and has not manufactured them since 2008, whereas its substitute, recognized for now because the ‘Main Ground Combat System’, a German-French venture, it is not going to be operational till 2040.
But the Leclerc even have a way more advanced upkeep chain. France despatched 13 such tanks to Romania final spring to hitch NATO items on the japanese flank of the Atlantic Alliance. Those 13 tanks required the deployment of two tank cranes and greater than 200 upkeep males. Macron “doesn’t exclude something”, however any cargo can be made “provided that our personal protection capabilities should not weakened”. The generals say they’re already weakened.