President Joe Biden had promised to donate battalion of Abrams vehicles to Kiev in January
File photo: A M1A1 Abrams tank getting delivered to Grafenwoehr, Germany for training of Ukrainian troops, May 14, 2023. © Dvidshub/US Army photo by Spc. Christian Carrillo
The US hopes to deliver the first Abrams heavy tanks to Ukraine sometime in September so they could join the ongoing offensive, Politico reported on Thursday. The Pentagon had previously estimated their deployment “sometime in the fall.”
The first “handful” of tanks will be sent to Germany in August, where they will undergo “final refurbishments” before getting shipped to Ukraine the following month, the outlet said, citing six unnamed officials familiar with the discussions.
Six to eight tanks will be involved in the initial delivery, according to a congressional aide and an industry official. The US has pledged a total of 31 tanks, or the equivalent of a Ukrainian battalion.
President Joe Biden promised the Abrams in January, reportedly as a way to push Germany into delivering Leopard 2 tanks to Kiev. While over a dozen Leopards have since been destroyed in the heavy fighting, the US tanks are yet to make their entrance.
Ukrainian tankers are already learning to use the Abrams at the US Army base in Grafenwoehr, Germany. The ten-week training course should wrap up in August, a Pentagon official has said.
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Originally the Pentagon intended to use the more modern M1A2 variants, but changed plans in March, opting for the older M1A1. The tanks first need to be refurbished, which includes stripping them of “sensitive” technology the US fears might be captured by Russia, from fire control systems to the depleted uranium armor.
Washington is currently working with NATO allies to establish “heavy maintenance repair facilities, especially for battle damage” so the Abrams tanks and Bradley infantry fighting vehicles already delivered to Kiev can be maintained. About half of the 190 promised Bradleys have been delivered to Ukraine, but many have been destroyed in the fighting, while Ukrainian troops are reportedly cannibalizing the damaged ones for parts.
The US and its allies have sent Ukraine over $100 billion worth of weapons, ammunition and equipment since hostilities with Russia escalated in February 2022, while insisting they are not actually a party to the conflict.
Moscow has repeatedly said that the deliveries of Western weapons would not change the course of the conflict, insisting that NATO-supplied tanks would “burn” on the battlefield. Russia also argued that the military aid to Kiev de facto makes NATO directly involved.
Until Biden’s January announcement, Western tank deliveries had consisted mostly of Polish, Czech and Slovak T-72s. Since then, Kiev has received several variants of the German-made Leopard 1 and 2 and about 14 British Challenger 2s that have yet to make an appearance on the battlefield. At over 60 tons, both are significantly heavier than Ukraine’s initial T-64 and T-72 fleet.
The 70-ton, gas turbine-powered Abrams was developed in the 1970s and first saw combat in the 1991 Gulf War. Since then, stripped-down export versions have been provided to Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Egypt, Morocco, Iraq, and Australia.
