US officials reveals they are planning to send Abrams tanks to Ukraine

• The Biden administration is putting the finishing touches on its decision to send US-made Abrams tanks.
• The exact delivery date of the tanks is yet uncertain.
• A declaration on the tanks might be an effort to end a diplomatic impasse with Germany.

According to three US sources familiar with the discussions, the Biden administration is putting the finishing touches on its decision to send US-made Abrams tanks to Ukraine and might make a statement as soon as this week.

According to officials, it typically takes several months to train troops to utilize tanks successfully. The exact delivery date of the tanks is yet uncertain.

A declaration on the tanks might be an effort to end a diplomatic impasse with Germany, which last week warned the US that it would not send its Leopard tanks to Ukraine unless the US also agreed to deliver its M1 Abrams tanks.

The administration’s top national security officials are aggressively examining what they can do to persuade Germany to provide the Leopards.

The US and its allies failed to persuade German officials to provide the Leopards as part of Berlin’s upcoming tranche of military aid to Ukraine on Friday during a meeting of western defense leaders in Germany. The German Defense Minister, however, Boris Pistorius, stated on Tuesday that “We are preparing our decision, which will come very soon” regarding the tanks.

The first to report that the US is thinking about sending the tanks was Arabia.

The government has never completely ruled out the option of sending American tanks, but last week US officials officially stated that the 70-ton M1 Abrams tanks are too expensive and would need a lot of training to operate at this time.

Instead, the tanks have frequently been suggested as a long-term solution, despite the argument from opponents that the moment is now as Ukraine braces for the potential that Russia may gather additional forces and start a new invasion.

Volodymyr Zelensky, president of Ukraine, has repeatedly requested modern tanks from Western partners as his nation preparations for an anticipated massive Russian counteroffensive in the spring.

It had previously seemed as though the UK would not breach what the US and its European allies would consider being a red line by sending 12 of its Challenger 2 tanks to Ukraine. The pressure on Germany to approve the delivery of Leopards would rise if the US announced it was sending tanks. There are reportedly 2,000 of them in Europe, and on Tuesday Poland formally requested Berlin to OK the deployment of some of its Leopards to Ukraine.

Announcing a drawdown of US assets worth $2.5 billion to deliver to Ukraine last week makes it unlikely that there will be another one this week. Instead, a new contract under the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI) or the refurbishment of M-1 Abrams tanks from another nation, like Poland, which recently closed a deal to buy more Abrams and has been outspoken in its demand to send tanks to Ukraine, could be used to provide Ukraine with tanks.

In either case, the US has more time and room to buy, educate, and provide Ukraine with complex-to-operate tanks. The latest and most sophisticated technology is already being used to educate the Ukrainian military. In addition to the combined arms training that recently started in Germany, this list also covers instruction on Patriot missiles, Challenger 2 tanks built in the UK, M109 howitzers, and other weapons.

The most potent direct offensive weapon now available to Ukraine is the tank, a heavily equipped device built to engage the adversary head-on rather than fire from a distance. They could enable Ukraine to reclaim territory from Russian forces who have had time to dig defensive lines if utilized properly and with the appropriate training. Although the US has started supplying repaired T-72 tanks from the Soviet era, contemporary western tanks are a generation more capable of identifying enemy positions.

Pentagon and White House representatives have disputed that the US decision to postpone a decision on sending the tanks was influenced by the possibility of an escalation with Russia. The question has instead been whether the Abrams tank would be useful on the battlefield in Ukraine and how challenging it would be for Ukrainian soldiers to operate and maintain.

Also Read

For Chinese and US officials, Taiwan is a major priority

US President Joe Biden and Chinese leader Xi Jinping will discuss Taiwan...