NATO member spurns American tanks

Lithuania’s government has opted against the US-made M1 Abrams for a major purchase of battle tanks, instead choosing Germany’s Leopard 2 as part of a military buildup in response to security concerns triggered by the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

Lithuanian Defense Minister Arvydas Anusauskas confirmed the decision in a Facebook post, saying the country’s Defense Resources Council had selected the Leopard 2 on Monday after taking into account a “detailed market analysis and military assessment.” Key evaluation criteria included price, maintenance costs, operational environment, mobility, safety, adaptability, firepower and interoperability, he said.

Other contenders included the M1 Abrams and South Korea’s Black Panther tank. Anusauskas aims to sign a letter of intent with the German Defense Ministry for the planned tank purchase.

Vilnius reportedly intends to buy as many as 54 Leopard 2s to bolster its ground forces with a new tank battalion that would be part of a division-sized unit. The new unit would also have infantry fighting vehicles, among other weaponry.

Anusauskas has faced criticism this week from Lithuanian lawmakers for publicizing the tank decision, potentially undermining the government’s bargaining power in contract negotiations with Germany. Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda chided the defense minister while speaking to reporters during his visit to a military construction project on Wednesday.

“We agreed in the State Defense Council that things that are of restricted use should be of restricted use and should not be shared on Facebook right after the meeting,” Nauseda said. “I understand that it may seem to some to be a very important part of the job to share the freshest information on Facebook, but it really should not be the primary function of a minister or any other public official — especially since you always have to think about the secondary consequences of making such information public.”

It’s not clear how quickly the new tanks could be delivered to Lithuania, given the struggles of NATO members to shore up their arsenals after providing massive military aid to Ukraine. The Czech Republic, for example, is buying Leopard 2 tanks after donating its Soviet-designed T-72 tanks to Ukraine last year. In May, Germany ordered 18 Leopard 2s from defense contractor Krauss-Maffei Wegmann to replace tanks sent to Kiev. As part of the deal, Berlin also secured options for up to 105 additional tanks.

Ukrainian forces have lost dozens of their Western-supplied armored vehicles during a foundering counteroffensive that began in early June. At least 15 German-made Leopards were knocked out by Moscow’s forces in a single day, Russian President Vladimir Putin said last week.