Boris Johnson wanted to get rid of the British army tanks now being sent to Ukraine a year before the war started because he believed they had outlived their usefulness on the battlefield, it has been claimed.
The then-prime minister proposed scrapping the Challenger 2 squadrons in the 2021 defence review, and was only dissuaded from doing so after strenuous pressure from service chiefs, according to military sources.
There is now widespread consensus among Ukraine’s Western allies that modern tanks are urgently needed as the Kremlin prepares for the next phase of the war. Britain, in a major ratcheting-up of Nato support for Ukraine, announced at the weekend that it would send the Challenger 2 tanks. Germany is also expected to supply Leopard 2 tanks in preparation for large-scale combat which is due to resume once winter eases.
Mr Johnson, who has continued to be a vocal supporter of Volodymyr Zelensky, has been campaigning for a drastic increase in modern Western weaponry for Kyiv. He told the Commons recently: “The House will know that supplies of British, American and other Western equipment have been absolutely vital in helping our Ukrainian friends to protect themselves against continuing and merciless Russian attacks.”
However, The Independent has been told that during the Integrated Review into defence and security in 2021, Mr Johnson argued that the age of tanks was over and there was no longer any need for them.
A senior military officer with detailed knowledge of the discussions at the time said: “We had to fight tooth and nail to retain any armoured capability in the Army.
“The PM and many of his civilian advisors were convinced that the tank, in particular, was no longer relevant in modern warfare.”
A spokesperson for the former prime minister denied the claim, saying: “This is untrue. Boris Johnson did not support scrapping Challenger Tanks in the IR or otherwise.”
However, Mr Johnson appeared to make his views on tanks clear during an appearance before the Commons Liaison Committee on 17 November 2021, at a time when Russia was carrying out massive war drills across Ukraine’s borders. Conservative MP Tobias Ellwood, questioning the then-prime minister, said: “We are cutting back on our tanks. What is amassing on the Ukrainian border? It’s tanks … I’m saying step back, look at the wider security picture, look at our defence posture, and see what needs to be done.”
Mr Johnson was dismissive in his response: “We have to recognise that the old concepts of fighting big tank battles on European land mass are over, and there are other, better things we should be investing in, in FCAS, the future combat air system, in cyber; this is how warfare in the future is going to be.”
Five months later, after the war began, Mr Johnson spoke of the need to send tanks to Ukraine.
“We’re looking at sending Challenger tanks to Poland to help them as they are sending some of their [Russian-made] T-72s to Ukraine,” he told journalists during a visit to New Delhi.
Defence sources acknowledged that there were differences of opinion on tanks during the Integrated Review.
One official said: “Not all of us subscribed to the ‘tank is dead’ declarations that has come from time to time. But there had been talk about how drones were used to take out lines of tanks in Libya and the Armenia/Azerbaijan war.
“This had influenced some people and the prime minister was among those who questioned the need for tanks in traditional doctrine forcefully: he was a sceptic.
“Obviously with what’s going on in Ukraine, as it turns out it’s just as well we kept the tank squadrons.”
After the UK announced the deployment of Challenger tanks, Russia threatened that they would be destroyed. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov accused the West of being engaged in a proxy war.
“They are using this country as a tool to achieve their anti-Russian goals. These tanks will burn like the rest,” he warned.
The UK’s decision to supply the tanks, initially around 14 of them, followed a telephone call between Rishi Sunak and Mr Zelensky.
Downing Street said it shows “the UK’s ambition to intensify support” and the “need to seize on this moment with an acceleration of global military and diplomatic support”. Mr Zelensky commented that the move “will not only strengthen us on the battlefield but also send the right signal to other partners”. He added that the British backing, “always strong was now impenetrable”.
Mr Johnson is believed to be planning a visit to Ukraine, where he remains extremely popular after his strong support while prime minister. Some British military and diplomatic officials have said that his presence there will undermine Mr Sunak’s authority. There is also concern that Mr Johnson’s “shoot from the hip” approach to public speaking may alienate allies.
Mr Johnson has recently charged that France was “in denial” about the possibility of Vladimir Putin invading Ukraine, and Germany “wanted the whole thing to be over quickly and for Ukraine to fold” for economic reasons.
The claims were angrily rejected in Berlin and Paris.
A spokesperson for the German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, said: “We know that the very entertaining former prime minister always has a unique relationship with the truth; this case is no exception”.
A senior French official said Mr Johnson’s allegation was “simply untrue and not worth spending time on”.
