It is not so important what tanks West gives to Ukraine, it is more important what shells are supplied to them - Forbes
The Allies transfer many more old tanks than modern ones, such as the Leopard 1 and M-55S, but their combat effectiveness is primarily determined by the type of projectile they use.
This is stated in the Forbes article, Censor.NET reports.
"Ukraine will receive only 71 Leopard 2s from its European allies and 31 M1 Abrams from the US, armed with 120 mm guns, which, with the right ammunition, can penetrate a thousand millimeters of steel from a distance of several thousand meters... But Kyiv will also receive at least 100 old Leopard 1 from the German-Dutch-Danish consortium. In addition, it has already received 28 M-55S tanks from Slovenia. Leopard 1 and M-55S are equipped with a less powerful 105 mm gun: the classic L7 from the Royal Ordnance Factory of Great Britain," the publication writes.
The publication notes that the L7 gun is not capable of penetrating thousands of millimeters of armor, but if the right ammunition is used, it can come close to that effectiveness.
For example, DM63 projectiles.
The DM63 is a German copy of the M426 from Elbit. DM63 and M426 weigh 18 kilograms. These are projectiles with a "sabotage" release. That is, projectiles with a tungsten dart are contained in a kind of case. The gunpowder explodes, the projectile flies out of the barrel, the case flies away, and the dart sinks into the target like a hypersonic needle.
Armor penetration of the DM63/M426 depends on the distance and angle of inclination to the target. The Taiwan Army, which uses the DM63 in conjunction with its CM-11 tanks, claims maximum penetration of 600 millimeters at typical combat ranges of 1,000 to 2,000 meters.
This may be enough to penetrate the frontal armor of the Russian T-72 tank of older generations. On the newer T-72B3, the DM63/M426 round can cause significant damage without actually destroying it.
The M-55S tank is a Soviet T-55 modernized in the nineties by the Israeli firm Elbit, which is used by Slovenia. The publication notes that, perhaps, together with these tanks, Ukraine received DM63/M426, which are manufactured by the same company.
"The difference between the best DM63/M426 projectile and less effective alternatives is hundreds of millimeters of armor penetration. In a battle between a Ukrainian Leopard 1 or M-55S and a Russian tank, these hundreds of millimeters can be the difference between life and death for one of the crews," - explains Forbes.
The publication draws attention to the fact that no one really knows exactly how the West transfers the shells to Ukraine along with tanks armed with L7 guns, and adds that Kyiv is unlikely to reveal this information for obvious reasons.
