Germany's decision to provide Ukraine with Leopard 2 tanks has been eagerly welcomed and spawned a new optimism for the success of Ukraine's defence against Russia's invasion.
After weeks of hesitation, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has announced his government would provide Ukraine with 14 Leopard 2 battle tanks and approve requests by other European countries — who had previously imported the German-made tanks by their thousands — to do the same.
Finland and Poland have both sought Berlin's approval to send a supply of their Leopard 2s. Spain and the Netherlands said they were considering it, and Norway was reported to be discussing it.
Britain has offered a company of 14 of its comparable Challenger 2s and France is considering sending its Leclercs.
Until now, Ukraine has relied primarily on Soviet-era T-72 tank variants.
While Ukraine's supporters previously have supplied tanks, they were Soviet models in the stockpiles of countries that once were in Moscow's sphere of influence but are now aligned with the West.
Benjamin Tallis — senior research fellow at the German Council on Foreign Relations — says the new equipment could lend hope for a new day in Ukraine's efforts against Russia.
"For Ukraine, this is a decision of massive significance," Dr Tallis told the ABC.
"It takes them a considerable step closer to the kind of capabilities they need to win.
"And by winning, I mean getting Russia out of their territory and restoring their control over their whole territory, to their 1991 borders."
Leopards offer survivability unmatched by Russian tanks
The Leopard 2 was originally designed in the 1970s for the West German army in response to Soviet threats during the Cold War.
It carries a reputation as one of the best battle tanks in the world and boasts a number of features that put it at an advantage over the Soviet-era tanks being used by Russian forces.
"It combines manoeuvrability with a high degree of protection and a powerful, powerful main gun," Dr Tallis said.
The tanks are designed and built to move quickly, with a top speed of around 70 kilometres per hour. They are fuelled by a diesel engine, which is relatively accessible fuel to Ukraine, unlike the jet fuel that powers the M1 Abram tanks the US has pledged.
According to its German manufacturer, Krauss-Maffei Wegmann, the Leopard 2s also feature modern thermal imaging, which allows them to be operated in the dark of night, plus magnified optics with a laser rangefinder to track distant targets.
Perhaps one of the greater advantages of the Leopard 2 tanks, however, are the added protection for crew inside.
Many images that have circulated of battle frontlines, now long passed, show the burned shells of tanks, the turrets of which lie to the side, dismembered from the hull, evidence of lethal "jack-in-the-box" explosions.
In some Soviet-era tanks, such as the T-72s being used by the Russians, ammunition is stored inside the tank beneath the crew, which, when the outer shell is ruptured by enemy forces, can trigger a chain of detonations and explode in a blast so powerful that the turret is blown off the body of the tank.
The Leopard 2s carry ammunition behind the crew, heavily partitioned and protected to avoid such devastation.
Their ammunition is standardised NATO 120mm, which would grant Ukraine access to a larger pool of suppliers than its current tanks, which require 125mm.
Other, all-around protection offers defence from threats including improvised explosive devices, mines or anti-tank fire.
"It gives its crew a degree of survivability that the Russian tanks can't even come close to," Dr Tallis said.
"It can survive in the firing zone and, thus, provide fire support to infantry moving up with it. It can suppress the enemy's firing positions and give the chance to actually move troops forward."
'Tank coalition' not necessarily drawing NATO into conflict
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy thanked Mr Scholz by phone for the supply of the tanks and said he was "sincerely grateful to the Chancellor and all our friends in Germany".
The move lifts one of the last taboos in Western support: providing weapons that have a mainly offensive rather than a defensive purpose.
"So the tank coalition is formed. Everyone who doubted this could ever happen sees now: for Ukraine and partners impossible is nothing," Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba wrote on Twitter.
"I call on all new partners that have Leopard 2 tanks in service to join the coalition and provide as many of them as possible."
The legacy of a Cold War era policy, Ostpolitik, has coloured the German involvement in Ukraine's defence.
Shows of support for Ukraine — and, therefore, in Russia's eyes, hostility towards Russia — in the present day risks being construed as a violation of the relationship between the two.
The Russian embassy in Berlin said Mr Scholz's decision would escalate the 11-month conflict in Ukraine, which Moscow casts, increasingly, as a perilous face-off between Russia and the US-led alliance.
"This extremely dangerous decision takes the conflict to a new level of confrontation," Ambassador Sergei Nechayev said.
Dr Tallis says the line Russia is accusing Germany of crossing was actually passed a "long time ago".
"As soon as we sent lethal equipment that could kill large [numbers] of Russians — and that's what they're there to do, with that express purpose — then we basically crossed that line already a long, long time ago," he said.
"[Russia] was already threatening to lay waste with nuclear weapons to half of Western Europe … So, now, when nothing has happened repeatedly after sending heavy artillery, self-propelled guns, massively powerful, multiple launch rocket systems and now sending the tanks, I don't think we can expect to see any real reaction from Russia."
ABC/Wires
