Russo-Ukrainian War 2014-25

[Duque de Bragança]

Unofficial reports that Spain is going to hand over 53! Leopard tanks to Ukraine.

No idea Spain had so many tanks.  A holdover from Franco?  Nope - Leopard 2 only entered service in 1979.

I'm even more surprised that Spain were willing to accept German tanks then given the new republic and the fact that the Civil War was well within living memory back then.

The Spanish Armed Forces hierarchy back then, plus a decade or two afterwards, was trained under the Franco régime so I don't think that surprising.

Not to mention pragmatism about arms deals.

[Zanza]

According to Wikipedia Spain only introduced the Leopard 2 in 2004, not in 1979.

[Barrister]

According to Wikipedia Spain only introduced the Leopard 2 in 2004, not in 1979.

I just meant entered service generally, not specifically with Spain.

[The Larch]

Unofficial reports that Spain is going to hand over 53! Leopard tanks to Ukraine.

It's been announced today that the tanks to be delivered to Ukraine are, indeed, "more than 50". They're Leopard 2, of the A4 variant, which apparently is the most common one, and are at least almost 30 years old (Spain got them from Germany in 1995), the last 10 years having been kept in storage. It seems that only 20 are more or less salvageable at the moment given their current conservation state, with the rest needing extensive work. It seems that last summer it was already floated that Spain could donate them to Ukraine, but was outright rejected by the government in order to avoid clashing with Germany regarding their re-exportation.

No idea Spain had so many tanks.  A holdover from Franco?  Nope - Leopard 2 only entered service in 1979.

The Spanish army apparently has 327 Leopard 2s in total, 102 24A (the older ones from which the ones to be given to Ukraine will be taken from) and 219 2E (the more modern ones that are the ones currently operative), as well as 16 2ER built locally.

No idea if that's a lot or not. How many tanks do other countries keep?

[crazy canuck]

Canada's operational Leopards are being used in the mission in Lithuania.  Media are reporting we might be able to manage 4 for Ukraine.  So more than 50 is a big number.

[Grey Fox]

It's alot for Europe. Probably average world wide.

Brazil fields about 440 MBTs
Canada has 100.
Denmark has 44.
Finland 239.
France 406
Germany 245
UK 158

[celedhring]

Spain had like nearly 1,000 MBTs in the 1980s (M48s and AMX30s mostly, all very antiquated stuff). Franco loved his armored brigades. Even though they have been massively downsized since then (and modernized), they remain fairly sizeable.

[Zanza]

This shows that China will not replace EU27 demand for Russian gas any time soon...

[Legbiter]

Russian elite will have to go on a diet.

[Maladict]

This shows that China will not replace EU27 demand for Russian gas any time soon...

The biggest drop happened before 2022?

[Valmy]

Yeah it looks like it went down dramatically starting in late 2020 for some reason. That's kind of random.

[Sheilbh]

The biggest drop happened before 2022?

Maybe some gas that came through Ukraine - I think that was being cut pre 2022. Also Russia massively cut gas supply in autumn 2021 before the war - I wasn't sure I remembered that right but I think it is correct:
https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/europe-facing-record-low-gas-storage-by-winters-end-2021-12-14/

[DGuller]

I think the presentation is deficient in multiple ways.  If I were to guess, the actual data points are yearly gas consumption, and the line is a misleading oversmoothed attempt to connect the dots.  What seems like a smooth decline from 2021 to 2022 is really the 2022 consumption being lower than 2021 consumption.

[grumbler]

I think the presentation is deficient in multiple ways.  If I were to guess, the actual data points are yearly gas consumption, and the line is a misleading oversmoothed attempt to connect the dots.  What seems like a smooth decline from 2021 to 2022 is really the 2022 consumption being lower than 2021 consumption.

I think that you are probably right.  It's likely a "boss, I know this should be a bar graph but doesn't it look prettier as a line graph?"

[HVC]

France pulling a reverse Germany and going back on their pledge to send lecrecs?