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Abrams third-generation main battle tanks are heading to the Russo-Ukraine conflict ahead of schedule as the US State Department confirms they will be delivered by fall (September, October, November) this year.
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The M1A1 Abrams tanks will feature refurbished hulls and be refitted with advanced weapon systems, 120mm cannons, and 50-calibre heavy machine guns to be delivered to Ukraine from US inventory, according to the announcement made during a US State Department briefing on 21 March.
Pentagon Press Secretary Air Force Brigadier General Pat Ryder said the M1A1 Abrams will have “a very similar capability” to the M1A2.
“Since we’ve made this announcement, we’ve been committed to exploring options to deliver the armoured capability as quickly as possible,” he said.
“After further study and analysis on how best to do this, Department of Defense in close coordination with Ukraine, has made the decision to provide the M1A1 variant of the Abrams tank, which will enable us to significantly expedite delivery timelines, and deliver this important capability to Ukraine by the fall of this year.
“We will ensure that the Ukrainians receive the necessary training on these tanks in time for them to be delivered. That would be our intent; and I’m confident that we will accomplish that.
“This is about getting this important combat capability into the hands of the Ukrainians sooner rather than later.”
The US government had initially planned to use $400 million in Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative funding to procure 31 new M1 Abrams tanks from the manufacturer in January.
“You’ve heard us talk in the past about trying to work with Ukraine to meet not only their near-term needs, but their medium-term needs,” Brig Gen Ryder said.
“Taking territory, retaking territory, you know, as part of any offensive will be important ... as will sustaining those gains at some point in the future, as well as being able to deter future Russian aggression.
“This is all part of ... our broader near-term and longer-term support to Ukraine and their defence requirements.”
The Pentagon has recently stepped up its latest round of security assistance to Ukraine worth $350 million of a total contributed $32.5 billion in security assistance to the war-torn country.
The new assistance includes High Mobility Artillery Rocket System ammunition, anti-radiation missiles, 155mm artillery rounds, AT4 anti-armour weapon systems, 81mm and 60mm mortar rounds, grenade launchers, small arms, and associated ammunition and Riverine patrol boats.
The total inventory of US security assistance provided to Ukraine, as of 20 March, includes more than 1,600 Stinger anti-aircraft systems, more than 8,500 Javelin anti-armour systems, more than 58,000 other anti-armour systems and munitions, over 1,500,000 artillery rounds, 100,000 rounds of 125mm tank ammunition, over 200,000 mortar rounds, more than 1,500,000 rounds of 25mm ammunition, over 30,000 grenade launchers and small arms, more than 150,000,000 rounds of small arms ammunition and over 100,000 sets of body armour and helmets.
As well as 45 T-72B main battle tanks, hundreds of infantry fighting vehicles and armoured personnel carriers, and thousands of night vision devices, surveillance systems, thermal imagery systems, optics and laser rangefinders.
