What we know about US Abrams tanks arriving in Ukraine

What we know about US Abrams tanks arriving in Ukraine “next week” – Al Jazeera English

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US President Joe Biden has announced that the first US-made Abrams tanks will be delivered to Ukraine next week, a crucial delivery at a time when Ukrainian forces are fighting brutal battles on the front line with Russia after months of hesitation Counteroffensive.

Biden made the announcement on Thursday after a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Washington, DC, where the US unveiled a new $325 million military aid package for Ukraine.

“Next week, the first US Abrams tanks will be delivered in Ukraine,” Biden said at the White House alongside Zelensky, who was visiting the US for the second time since the Russian invasion in February 2022.

Here’s what we know about recent U.S. military assistance and the importance of the U.S. Army’s top tank to Ukraine’s armed forces:

State-of-the-art tank

  • The M1 Abrams tank is considered a state-of-the-art weapon and is more powerful than many Soviet-era tanks currently used by Russian and Ukrainian forces.
  • Washington originally promised to deliver 31 Abrams main battle tanks to Kiev earlier this year.
  • A delivery date for the Abrams was subsequently adjusted, with the Pentagon speaking of a date later in the year.
  • Washington’s decision to deliver Abrams tanks to Ukraine marked a significant about-face, as U.S. defense officials had repeatedly stated that the Abrams would be more difficult for Kiev’s armed forces due to the complexity of the logistics of supplying them with parts, fuel and ammunition , the complexity of their functionality is unsuitable.
  • Sydney Freedberg, co-editor of the digital magazine Breaking Defense, told Al Jazeera earlier this year that with significantly reduced use of Abrams tanks across Europe, Ukraine may struggle to cope with logistical infrastructure such as procurement of spare parts, storage and general maintenance. Operating the four-person tank is also complex.
  • U.S. Army Europe and Africa spokesman Col. Martin O’Donnell said last month that 200 Ukrainian soldiers were completing the final stages of training to operate the Abrams tanks, according to the Washington, D.C.-based think tank Institute for the Study of War (ISW).
  • The Abrams tanks arriving in Ukraine next week will be armed with 120mm armor-piercing depleted uranium rounds.
  • The use of depleted uranium munitions is highly controversial because these munitions have been linked to health problems, including cancer and birth defects, in areas where they have been used in previous conflicts.
  • Al Jazeera defense analyst Alex Gatopoulos said the latest generation main battle tanks, such as the Abrams and the German-made Leopard 2 tanks, are crucial for Ukraine to punch holes in Russian defenses.
  • Southern Ukraine is flat and an ideal tank area. But Russia has spent months building complex defenses with deep trenches, vast minefields and reinforced battle bunkers along its front lines.
  • Ukrainian officials have repeatedly cited the strength of Russia’s defensive lines as the main reason for the slow progress of their ongoing counteroffensive.
  • The Abrams tanks could arrive at a crucial moment in the counteroffensive.
  • The ISW reported on Thursday that Ukrainian armored vehicles are now operating behind the “last line of the Russian defense layer” in the western Zaporizhzhia region, which Ukraine has invaded.
  • Ukrainian armor appears to have penetrated beyond “Russian anti-tank ditches and dragon’s teeth obstacles, which are part of a three-layered defense” in the region, the ISW said, adding that this is the first observed case of Ukraine’s heavy armor in use beyond the border Region is three-layer lines.
  • “Ukraine’s ability to move armored vehicles to and through Russia’s most formidable defenses to stop them, and to deploy these vehicles near prepared Russian defensive positions, is an important sign of progress in the Ukrainian counteroffensive,” the ISW said.

What was not included in the package: ATACMS

  • The new military aid package announced by Biden also includes anti-aircraft missiles, ammunition for HIMARS precision rocket launchers, anti-tank weapons and artillery shells.
  • It also includes 155mm cartridges, which contain highly controversial cluster munitions and which Washington first agreed to supply to Ukraine in July, despite concerns about the long-term danger to civilians from bomblets that fail to explode.
  • The U.S. said it had received assurances from Kyiv that it would minimize the risk the weapons pose to civilians, including by not using the munitions in populated areas.
  • Long-range ATACMS missiles – which have a range of up to 300 km (186 miles) – were not included in the package, although Ukraine had repeatedly requested access to such weapons to hit Russia’s rear area supply lines and logistics.
  • Zelensky said after meeting Biden that the new military aid was very powerful and contained “exactly what our soldiers need now.”
  • Zelensky thanked the US for strengthening Ukraine’s air defense ahead of the upcoming winter season. The Ukrainian leader emphasized that he was grateful not only for the latest aid package, but also for Washington’s support during “all 575 days” of the conflict so far.
  • Since Russia’s invasion in February 2022, the US has sent around $113 billion in military and humanitarian aid to Ukraine.