Britain is considering supplying a handful of Challenger 2 tanks to Ukraine, the first time a western country has indicated it may supply its homemade heavy armour to Kyiv in the war against Russia.
No final decision by Downing Street has been made, British sources added, but Ukraine is hoping a positive move by the UK could help persuade Germany to follow suit later this month with its Leopard 2 battle tanks.
Ukraine has been asking for British tanks “since summer”, a second source said. But the reality is that the UK, with a total fleet of 227, has a small supply compared with what is made by Germany and the US.
An initial report from Sky News suggested the UK was considering supplying about 10 Challenger 2s, only a fraction of the 300 Kyiv wants as it tries to build up a mechanised force in pursuit of victory after more than 10 months of war.
There are about 2,000 Leopard 2s in service in Europe with 13 different countries, but because they were originally made in Germany, the approval of Berlin would be required if any are to be re-exported to Ukraine.
Western countries have already announced a step-up in their military aid to Ukraine this year. Last week, the US and Germany said they would provide 50 Bradley and 40 Marder fighting vehicles respectively.
That followed an announcement by France that it would provide a number – estimated at about 30 – of light AMX-10 RC armoured vehicles in what appeared to be a coordinated sequence of announcements.
Kyiv is hoping for a further breakthrough at or in the run-up to the next meeting of the “Ramstein” contact group of western defence ministers, which is scheduled for 20 January. Chaired by the US, the group coordinates military aid to Ukraine.
Last week, Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, said: “There is no rational reason why Ukraine has not yet been supplied with western-type tanks.” He highlighted the next Ramstein meeting as a key point where a decision could be made.
At the end of last year, the commander in chief of the Ukrainian armed forces, Gen Valeriy Zaluzhny, called for 300 tanks and 600-700 fighting vehicles to help Ukraine defeat the Russian invaders. But until last week Nato countries had been unwilling to provide western made armour to Kyiv, fearing it would be interpreted by Moscow as escalatory.
Instead efforts were made to send Soviet-era weaponry, more familiar to Ukraine’s military, from former central and eastern bloc countries. Last year, Poland and the Czech Republic sent more than 200 Soviet-era T-72 tanks to Ukraine.
Infantry fighting vehicles like the Bradleys and the Marders are considered one step down below main battle tanks such as the Challenger 2s, Leopards and the US Abrams, which carry a heavy gun and thicker armour.
Western military aid has been critical to sustaining Ukraine’s fight against Russia, but the wide variety of kit Kyiv has been given creates complications for training and spare parts. Although it may be preferable to try and have a large amount of materiel from one or two countries, diplomatically it is deemed preferable to act in concert.
Two and a half years ago the UK briefly considered scrapping its entire fleet of ageing Challenger 2 tanks. Instead it decided to upgrade two-thirds, or 148 of them, as part of the integrated review of defence and foreign policy.
Britain’s Ministry of Defence said: “The government has committed to match or exceed last year’s funding for military aid to Ukraine in 2023, and we will continue to build on recent donations with training and further gifting of equipment.”