I agree that they should be brought to the same standard but they aren't useless the way that they are. A4s are in use all over the world and certainly make an excellent training vehicle if nothing else. Looking at what the Ukrainians are doing with Soviet era kit makes you realize that while tanks do not make you invulnerable, its as much the people as the gear itself that delivers success.
We have facilities in Canada that can upgrade tanks even with the rush on right now. The key is having the need seen and the money allocated. I fear neither is a high enough priority even now. My concern for a long time now is that there hasn't been a rational vision for a force rebuild since we embarked on the Advancing with Purpose agenda which IMHO was weak and flawed from the start. I had hopes for Force 2025, but its degenerating as well. If the Army has no vision, how can it convince its political masters to put money behind it?
I like the Leos. Particularly their engines and mileage, but my guess is that we could get a whole lot of older M1s at bargain prices for training purposes in Canada and have the US furnish flyover stocks prepositioned in Europe. Canada needs a vision and a plan. Everything else follows from that.
Fancy socks or not, we'd have no problems getting US buy-in. I would think that Canada actually stepping up and saying that we will provide the manpower for a fly-over brigade using prepositioned US stocks would thrill them. Above all else, the US values commitment. What they hate is hedge betting, mealy-mouthed platitudes and vacillation all of which Socks, and much of our military leadership, excels at.