Ukraine it cannot wait years to receive the tanks that the United States has promised. The Pentagon announced in January that they would transfer 31 M1-A2 Abrams tanks to the Ukrainian armed forces, but they qualified that the process would take many months and possibly extend into 2024. Finally, the US military high command has decided in coordination with Ukraine provide the M1A1 variant of the Abrams tank, This will allow us to speed up delivery times so that the car is on the ground in the fall.
There is no specific date. Training personnel to manage the tank takes time. The US sent M2 Bradley infantry fighting vehicles to Europe for Ukraine in February, but they are not yet operational on the front lines because Ukrainian personnel have been training with them.
The decision to ship refurbished M1A1s instead of M1A2s was made in part to help reduce logistical and training requirements, as well as allow the delivery schedule to be changed. It remains unclear how much easier the M1A1 variant is to operate and maintain compared to the M1A2, especially given the various subvariants that exist of each type.
Both variants, the M1A1 and M1A2, share the same complex gas turbine engine that consumes a lot of fuel and that it has been a key point in discussions about possible obstacles to transferring Abrams tanks to Ukraine and then bringing them to the front.
The Abrams is a third generation main battle tank, and among its features stand out the use of a powerful gas turbine, sophisticated composite armor and ammunition storage in a separate compartment from the crew for superior protection. This battle tank 61 tons of weighthas proven to be one of the most robust and unbeatable.
Depleted uranium ammunition
It remains to be seen if the US Abrams tanks will be equipped with depleted uranium ammunition. The British government revealed on Tuesday that it is sending 120mm tank munitions containing depleted uranium (DU) to Ukraine along with a tranche of Challenger 2 tanks. This decision raises the possibility that the US authorities will allow the Abrams tank with uranium depleted be sent to Ukraine if other operational security issues are properly addressed, explains Joseph Trevithick in The WarZone. “That would eliminate the need for the months-long retrofit process to install a DU-less armor pack,” he adds.
The press secretary of PentagonRyder told reporters that he does not know if there are any US plans to send munitions containing depleted uranium to Ukraine.
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