Norway delivers armored vehicles to Ukraine

Norway sent Leopard 2 tanks and combat engineering vehicles, along with related equipment, to Ukraine.

This was reported on the website of the Armed Forces of Norway.

These are eight Leopard 2A4NO tanks, two Bergepanzer 2 armored recovery vehicles, and two NM189 Ingeniørpanservogn armored engineer vehicles.

Together with the equipment, the Armed Forces of Ukraine will receive spare parts for it and ammunition.

The decision to transfer to Ukraine eight Leopard 2А4NO main battle tanks and up to four support vehicles was made by the Norwegian government on February 15.

The country’s Defense Minister, Björn Arild Gram, stated that Norway would allocate $24.5 million for ammunition and spare parts for Leopard 2 tanks.

Now, according to the Norwegian Armed Forces, tanks are delivered to the training ground of Ukrainian personnel in Poland.

Currently, in Poland, Ukrainian Leopard 2 tank crews are being trained as part of the UNIFIER training mission, which was launched by Canada.

Instructors from Canada, as well as the Polish and Norwegian militaries, train Ukrainian defenders to operate with Leopard 2 tanks.

The UNIFIER training mission of the Canadian Armed Forces began in 2015 in response to the request of the Government of Ukraine.

M189 Ingeniørpanservogn

NM189 is an armored engineer vehicle developed based on the Leopard 1 tank in 1995 for Norway. The first vehicles were tested in 1999, including during a peacekeeping operation in Kosovo. By 2001, all 22 vehicles ordered had been delivered to the Norwegian Army.

A crew of two, consisting of the driver and commander, is placed in each half of the wheelhouse. The vehicle is armed with a 12.7 mm machine gun and eight smoke launchers.

The armored engineer vehicle is equipped with a dump and a hydraulic boom with a bucket. The boom is mounted in the middle of the front of the vehicle and is placed between the two halves of the wheelhouse. The boom can be used as a crane.

The armored engineer vehicle is equipped with two cable winches, each with a pulling force of up to 9 tons. Using pulleys, the maximum thrust force reaches 60 tons. The length of the cable is 200 meters. The engineering system also includes electric welding and cutting equipment.

The engineering vehicle can be equipped with a Mine Clearing Line Charge (MICLIC), which can be placed on an armored hull for clearing passages in minefields.