More Than 50 Tanks Sit Idle At Warehouse Of Belgian Arms Dealer I Ukraine Wants Tanks To Fight

More Than 50 Tanks Sit Idle At Warehouse Of Belgian Arms Dealer I Ukraine Wants Tanks To Fight

Freddy Versluys does not like to be called an arms dealer. But he does have a big warehouse full of second-hand tanks for sale.

Standing next to dozens of German-made Leopard 1 tanks and other military vehicles in the chilly warehouse in eastern Belgium, Versluys stressed he is the CEO of two defense companies with a broad range of activities, such as making sensors for spacecraft.

But buying and selling weapons is part of his business too. And it’s the tanks that have brought him into the spotlight over the past few days, as he has engaged in a public battle with Belgian Defence Minister Ludivine Dedonder over the possibility of sending them to Ukraine.

While other Western nations have pledged in recent weeks to send main battle tanks to help Ukraine repel Russia’s invasion, Belgium has not joined that group, for one reason above all: It doesn’t have any tanks left. It sold the last of them – a batch of 50 – to Versluys’s company more than five years ago.

Asked why he bought the tanks, Versluys, a silver-haired man in his mid-60s, said that was his company’s business model – it bought unwanted military equipment in the hope that someone else would want it in future.

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[stephenbusch]

Let's hope that junk is still sitting when this over or Russia can have em

[patshes]

Russia will buy those tanks in the blink of an eye. It is available on the open market.