The first American-made Abrams tanks have been delivered to Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelensky mentioned on Monday, arriving months forward of preliminary estimates and in time for use in Kyiv’s counteroffensive in opposition to Russian forces.
More M1 Abrams tanks can be despatched within the coming months, based on two U.S. protection officers who mentioned that these shipped into Ukraine on Saturday had been the primary of 31 that the Biden administration has promised to supply.
The officers, who spoke on situation of anonymity as a result of they weren’t approved to talk publicly, wouldn’t say what number of have been delivered to this point, and Mr. Zelensky provided no particulars in a submit on his Telegram channel.
“Abrams are already in Ukraine and are preparing to reinforce our brigades,” Mr. Zelensky wrote, including that he was “grateful to allies.”
The Abrams can be amongst different tanks in Ukraine’s arsenal that it may use to push into, and probably reclaim, Russian-held territory in Ukraine’s japanese and southern areas, the place combating has floor on for months with out main breakthroughs. But Kyrylo Budanov, the pinnacle of Ukraine’s navy intelligence, has warned that the Abrams would should be deployed “in a very tailored way, for very specific, well-crafted operations,” or threat being destroyed.
If they’re merely despatched to the entrance traces to attempt to punch via Russian defenses, General Budanov mentioned final week in an interview with an American navy news website, “they will not live very long on the battlefield. They need to be used in those breakthrough operations, but very well prepared.”
Former senior American navy officers say it may take a while earlier than the Abrams are despatched to the battlefield, as Ukrainian troops first make sure that they’ve the wanted help parts and resolve the place and when the autos can be handiest. Until then, it’s seemingly that the tanks’ areas can be stored underneath wraps as Ukraine’s forces “don’t want to start losing them to precision strikes before they are actually in the fight,” mentioned Ben Hodges, a retired common who previously commanded the U.S. Army in Europe.
Both President Biden and the American protection secretary, Lloyd J. Austin III, had forecast final week that the tanks can be shipped inside days. Their arrival represents a part of a rare effort by Western allies — responding to relentless pushing from Ukraine — to ship a robust weapon months forward of schedule.
Just one yr in the past, allies had resisted sending Western-made tanks to Ukraine, involved that doing so would draw NATO extra instantly into the battle and additional escalate tensions with President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia.
By January, nonetheless, satisfied that Ukraine wanted extra heavy armored autos to confront Russian forces, Britain, Germany and the United States every agreed to produce the trendy Western tanks or enable for them to be transferred to Kyiv. At that time, consultants predicted that it may take at the very least a yr to coach sufficient Ukrainian forces on the delicate Western weapons.
U.S. troops started coaching Ukrainian forces in late spring, conducting an abbreviated 12-week course to function Abrams tanks at American navy bases in Germany.
The American resolution to donate the Abrams tanks unlocked the switch from European nations of a number of dozen German-made Leopard tanks, one other refined Western weapon, which Berlin had been unwilling to permit with no comparable dedication from the United States. Britain delivered at the very least 14 of its Challenger 2 tanks within the spring.
Ukraine has mentioned it wants at the very least 300 Western tanks for its counteroffensive, but it surely has to this point acquired solely about half that quantity, mentioned Col. Markus Reisner of Austria, who’s carefully monitoring the battle at Austria’s principal navy coaching academy.
By comparability, officers have estimated that Russia is manufacturing about 200 tanks annually.
Constant Méheut and Eric Schmitt contributed reporting.
Source: www.nytimes.com