The US will begin training Ukrainian forces on how to operate Abrams tanks next month as it seeks to get them on to the battlefield against Russia before the end of the summer.
Thirty-one US M1A1 Abrams tanks – the size of a Ukrainian tank battalion – will be sent by mid-May to Grafenwoehr, Germany, where roughly 250 Ukrainians will undergo a 10-week training course with US troops, a US official told reporters traveling with Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin.
The tanks are a long-awaited capability for Ukraine, which has been battling Russia for more than a year.
Though the US had originally said it would send the newer M1A2 versions of the tanks, officials said in March that the Ukrainians would instead get the M1A1, dramatically accelerating the timeline for delivering the tanks.
Austin said Friday at the Ukraine Defense Contact Group in Ramstein, Germany, that in total the group of allies and partners has provided more than $55 billion in security assistance for Ukraine, including “more than 230 tanks and more than 1,550 armored vehicles and other equipment and munitions.”
“All of this is huge progress,” Austin said alongside Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley. “And I am confident that this equipment and the training that accompanies it will put Ukraine’s forces in a position to continue to succeed on the battlefield.”
In addition to tanks being provided by the US, Ukraine will also be receiving German Leopard 2 tanks and British Challengers.
On Friday, Ukraine’s Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov said that Poland will host a maintenance center for Leopard 2 tanks.
“Modern Western technology will result in Moscow’s defeat. The sooner it happens, the sooner peace will come,” Reznikov added.
Germany Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said the tank hub would cost…
Read the full article here