British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced his plans to ‘backfill’ supplies of Soviet-era tanks. British Ministry of Defence is considering sending Challenger II Main Battle Tanks to Poland so that Warsaw could send T-72 tanks to Kyiv.
British Premier announced during his visit to India. India is one of the biggest arms buyers globally, and the country has extreme relations with Russia. Amid US warnings of CAATSA, the government bought Russian S-400 air defence systems but following 2+2 ministerial meetings in the USA, New Delhi changed its mind about the Mi-17 helicopter acquisition.
Johnson’s announcement in India was just a few days after the new decision. Premier Johnson said it is essential to step up immediate military support to Kyiv, warning there is a “realistic possibility” the conflict could drag on for a “long period” and “We are looking more at what we can do to backfill in countries such as Poland, who may want to send heavier weaponry to help defend the Ukrainians. We are looking at sending tanks to Poland to help them as they send some of their T72s to Ukraine.” Premier said.
The Polish army has 127 T-72A/T-72M1 in operational conditions and 257 more in store. Poland would be ready to give its T-72 tanks to Ukraine in exchange for British Challenger 2 tanks to maintain its military capabilities and face the Russian threat.The T-72 is one of the most popular Soviet-made main battle tanks in service worldwide. The T-72A is the T-72 family’s second-generation main battle tank MBT. The T-72M is the T-72A’s export variant.Challenger 2 is the main battle tank currently in service with the British army, and it is designated as the FV4034. It entered service with the British Army in June 1998, and the last of the 386 tanks were delivered in April 2002. The British military has a total of 227 Challenger 2 MBTs.
