The Pentagon official said it will take months to deliver the M1A2 tanks to Ukraine, because the US stockpile does not have a surplus of this type of tank.
The US will supply the M1A2 version of the Abrams main battle tank to Ukraine, but the process will take at least several months, Pentagon deputy spokeswoman Sabrina Singh said on January 26. The US Department of Defense will use funds from the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI) to purchase tanks from the manufacturer General Dynamics.
“The US stockpile does not have a surplus of these tanks, which is why it will take many months to deliver the M1A2s to Ukraine. Training Ukrainian soldiers to operate and maintain will also take a lot of time.” , she said when asked why Washington did not withdraw Abrams tanks from service to give to Kiev.
USAI is a source of money allocated by the US Congress for the administration of President Joe Biden to buy weapons directly from defense corporations instead of withdrawing from the US military’s stockpile.
The US M1A2 tank drills in the state of Georgia in 2021. Photo: US Army.
US President Joe Biden announced on January 26 that he would deliver 31 M1 Abrams main battle tanks to Ukraine, emphasizing that the move was not “an offensive threat to Russia”. The decision goes against previous statements by the Biden administration, when Washington argued that the Abrams line of vehicles did not bring much benefit on the battlefield for Kiev and required very high operating and maintenance costs.
The US developed the M1 Abrams in 1972-1975 and operated this tank from 1980 to the present. The M1 tank is equipped with a 120 mm smoothbore cannon, a 7.62 mm coaxial gun and a 12.7 mm machine gun for the commander.
The M1A2 variant, produced since 1992, is equipped with an independent thermal imager for the driver, allowing the crew to simultaneously track two targets and fire in a short time, instead of having to detect and attack them in turn. click each target. The domestic version of the M1A2 for the US military is equipped with second-generation depleted uranium armor.
M1 Abrams is considered one of the best protected tanks in the world today. However, the export version is not equipped with the advanced armor on US military tanks, making them more vulnerable to many popular anti-tank missiles.
Vu Anh (Theo Hill)