The heath is under water, the paths through the military training area have turned into mud tracks. A weather for armored grenadiers and leopards, says a young sergeant. And good conditions for the members of the Ukrainian tank troops, who practice handling and fighting with the Leopard 2 main battle tank here near Munster.
Peter Carstens
Political correspondent in Berlin
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From afar you can hear the dark roar of the engines, then four of the monsters roll out of the heather wood. A muzzle flash, a dull thud, from the 120-millimeter cannon of "Bravo 1" the first shot is released, three more follow from the other tubes of the quartet. The commands of the Ukrainian platoon leader can be heard over a loudspeaker, now the warning "Attention, storming shooters". Moments later, the heavy machine guns on the Leopard towers open fire on cardboard comrades rising from the heath at a distance of seven or eight hundred meters.
The tanks advance, from fast speed is fired further, later also in reverse. In addition to the night vision capability of the Leopard, this makes the difference to most common Russian tanks. "I heard that the Russians are very nervous about the Leopard," says one of the Ukrainian tank men later in an interview and continues: "After training here, I can say: They have every reason to do so." The young man was in a civilian profession after basic military training a few years ago, now he has returned to the army. He does not want to say details, only this much: "We are descendants of the Cossacks, and we get an education here that allows us not to have to fear any meeting with the enemy."
Strictly shielded training
Everything is strictly shielded on this day on the tank shooting range, no one is allowed to take their own photos, names do not matter. The young gunner is the only Ukrainian soldier allowed to speak in front of cameras. Is he afraid of what will happen when he returns? "This is not about fear, but about understanding that my fatherland is at war and we must do everything we can to restore peace."
About 70 Ukrainians are currently being trained at Bergen on the modern Leopard 2A6. Germany, Sweden and Portugal are jointly setting up a tank battalion with this series, 30 vehicles in total. In Poland, another 2 crews are being trained in parallel on the slightly older Leopard 4A30. On the shooting range in Lower Saxony, three armored platoons are practicing on one track each this Monday.
Colonel Michael Sack, who is responsible for tank troop training here at the site, reports that Ukrainian soldiers have made rapid progress in recent weeks. After the introduction to the leopard, we first practiced in the simulator. Then the shooting training began in the heath, now it goes out every day to the "sharp shot". Real ammunition is used to shoot at targets of about two by two meters, which are one or two kilometers away. This is also the case today. Later, the trainer reports that 85 percent of the targets were hit in the first round, 82 percent in the second. A very good result, says one of the trainers.