The United States will send 31 M-1 Abrams tanks to Ukraine, United States President Joe Biden confirmed at the White House this Wednesday, giving Washington’s turn to deliver military supplies to Kyiv goes.
Biden’s announcement, which US media pushed a day earlier, coincides with that of the German government, which will supply 14 of its Leopard 2 tanks to Ukrainian forces and authorize other countries to also supply these German-made vehicles.
Immediately before his statement, the US President had called Chancellor Olaf Scholz; French head of state Emmanuel Macron; Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on aid to Ukraine, the White House said.
The announcements from Washington and Berlin ended a major argument between the allies over the best way to help Ukraine, which has called for tanks to respond to and at least partially recover from the offensive that Russia appears to be preparing for the coming months it is the territories occupied by Moscow. Scholz was reluctant to authorize delivery of the Leopards on his own for fear of a possible reaction from Moscow.
The Pentagon didn’t think the Abrams was the most practical solution. Although they are very agile and resilient vehicles, they require special driver training. They also consume huge amounts of kerosene and need a very large support group to ensure their subsistence: their logistics chains would be more difficult to set up. In contrast, the Leopard requires much less fuel and is more established in European armies, making it easier to trace their logistics chains to Ukraine.
The Abrams entered service in the 1980s, equipped with a 1,500 hp engine and a 120 mm gun. The Pentagon describes it as a vehicle of “deadly power, unparalleled survivability, and daring maneuverability.”
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