Western tanks meant for Ukraine are duds, reveals UK

London: Western nations, who have pledged to supply modern heavy tanks to war-torn Ukraine, have now discovered that a significant part of their weaponry is not competent to take part in any conflict, said UK Secretary of Defence Ben Wallace. ‘Tanks not operational’ In an interview with German news website, Der Spiegel, Wallace said last week, Germany organised a meeting with its NATO allies to discuss tank deliveries and during the discussion, “the problems became obvious”. “The political decision is there… The politicians sent their military to the depots only to find that their tanks are not operational or repaired for delivery to Ukraine,” he added. Wallace further noted that NATO has to face the painful truth that “our armies have been more or less hollowed out over the last 30 years… There are numbers of how many tanks each country has. But then there is the reality that tells us that far too few of them are operational." Will Ukraine get tanks on time? The British defence chief asked for “a little more time” for the other partners, describing Western-made armour as “not a silver bullet to win the war instantly”. He also emphasised on the importance of training Ukrainian troops with the weapons. “In terms of ammunition stocks, too, we found that our peacetime plans were not sufficient. We didn’t count on a real war, so the target numbers for the ammunition were too low,” Wallace said. The UK, Germany and the US have agreed to supply Ukraine with modern heavy armour - Challenger 2, Leopard 2 and M1 Abrams tanks respectively. Russian troops advance on all fronts A report by Financial Times quoted Wallace saying, “There is no evidence to date of a great, big Russian offensive. What we have seen is an advance on all fronts, but at the expense of thousands of lives.” He further said the Russian army is “not willing to give up the meat grinder tactic and is desperately trying to continue the offensive. Nevertheless, the big Russian offensive is so far advancing in metres, not kilometres.” Wallace also said the Western allies of Ukraine are “more resolved than ever” to push back the Russian occupiers. Read all the  Latest News ,  Trending News ,  Cricket News ,  Bollywood News , India News  and  Entertainment News  here. Follow us on  Facebook ,  Twitter  and  Instagram .