Plans to provide Kiev with heavy equipment of this type are still under development.
Delivery of M1 Abrams tanks to the US may take more than one year. According to the Secretary of the US Army Christine Wormuth, relevant plans for the provision of such equipment are being developed.
In particular, she noted that such terms are the fastest possible. Wormuth noted that there are options for the development of events that could delay the supply by up to two years.
“We are looking for the fastest way to deliver tanks to the Ukrainians. It will not be a matter of a few weeks, I can tell you that for sure. None of the options that we are considering are designed for a week or two months. There are also longer time limits. But I think that there are options that will take no more than two years, less than a year and a half. But again, we have to weigh the advantages and disadvantages of each of them,” Wormuth was quoted as saying by the CNN information resource.
Various options for providing these tanks to Ukraine are being considered. Including the USA can produce these combat vehicles from scratch. It is also possible to transfer existing equipment, but with modernization – this option is most often used by Washington with the help of allies.
In addition, there is an option to get Abrams from those countries that purchased these machines in the US earlier. However, according to Wormuth, such a move “could damage relations with important allies.”
What is known about the US supply of Abrams tanks to Ukraine.
On January 25, US President Joe Biden officially announced the delivery of 31 M1 Abrams tanks to Ukraine. One tank battalion will be formed from them. The delivery of the tanks will take several months.
According to Politico, the Abrams tanks will arrive in an improved version, but without secret armor. This version of the tanks has more sophisticated optics and control systems than the old A1 version, which the US Army is going to decommission in the coming years.
Abrams tanks stand out among others and have much better characteristics than all the heavy weapons of the Russian Federation.
WP noted that these tanks would not arrive quickly: the announcement of their delivery was made in order to force Scholz to quickly hand over the Leopard tanks. However, Zelensky asked not to delay the delivery of Abrams tanks, so that “then it is not too late.”
