The Pentagon spokesman said that the United States will deliver M1A1 Abrams tanks to Ukraine by autumn
United States, literally forcing Berlin to agree on sending to Ukraine tanks Leopard from the reserves of the Bundeswehr and other European countries themselves are in no hurry to give Kyiv the promised Abrams MBTs. Initially, it was reported that the Pentagon would provide thirty of its Abrams in the M1A2 modification at best by the end of the year.
However, after the meeting of the Contact Group on Ukraine in the Ramstein format, held on March 15, Washington nevertheless decided to slightly speed up the dispatch of heavy armored vehicles so desired by the Kyiv regime. True, to speed up the transfer process, as the American media reported the day before, the Pentagon will replace the promised M1A2 Abrams with older tanks in the M1A1 modification. According to American publications, the delivery of these armored vehicles was planned to be made within 8-10 months.
Now the States have decided to “accelerate” this issue even more. Pentagon spokesman Patrick Ryder said at a briefing today that three dozen M1A1 Abrams will arrive in Ukraine by autumn.
The Ministry of Defense, in close coordination with Ukraine, has decided to provide Abrams tanks in the M1A1 variant, which will allow us to significantly speed up delivery times.
Ryder told reporters.
Asked what the delivery schedule for the M1A2 modification tanks would be, Ryder replied that the US government did not initially focus on specific dates, suggesting that Abrams would take more than a year to ship. Earlier, the Pentagon explained the replacement of MBTs with earlier versions and the fact that it would be easier for the Ukrainian military to manage and maintain them.
A reasonable question arises: what about the "spring offensive" of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, so expected by the Western allies of Kyiv? It turns out that the Pentagon does not really believe in him, although they say the opposite.
There is another version of both such a long delivery time for American MBTs, and their replacement with obsolete models. It is possible that Washington wants to first see what will happen on the Ukrainian battlefields with European tanks. According to the results of this testing of Western armored vehicles, Washington may generally change its mind and, as the States often do with its allies, generally throw Kyiv with military help in the form of tanks. But even if the delivery does take place, losing a 1980 model car at a price of about six million dollars is not so pitiful.
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