New Delhi: US President Joe Biden on Wednesday announced that he plans to send 31 M1 Abrams tanks to Ukraine, reversing the administration’s longstanding resistance to requests from Kyiv for the highly sophisticated but maintenance-heavy vehicles. President Biden announced the decision in remarks at the White House and said the tanks are needed to help the Ukrainians “improve their ability to manoeuvre in open terrain,” news agency Reuters reported.
President Biden said US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin recommended this move because it will strengthen Ukraine’s capacity to “defend its territory and achieve its strategic objectives.”
“The Abrams tanks are the most capable tanks in the world. They’re also extremely complex to operate and maintain, so we’re also giving Ukraine the parts and equipment necessary to effectively sustain these tanks on the battlefield. We’ll begin to train the Ukrainian troops on these issues of sustainment, logistics and maintenance as soon as possible,” Biden said in remarks from the White House.
Biden also thanked Germany for its decision to supply Ukraine with Leopard 2 tanks. “Germany has really stepped up,” he said.
“The expectation on the part of Russia is we’re going to break up,” Biden said of the US and European allies, adding, “But we are fully, totally and thoroughly united.”
According to reports, the Abrams will take months to arrive, senior administration officials said, and they will require extensive training for Ukrainian troops on how to operate and service them.
The US must navigate complicated supply chains for the components required for the tanks, officials said.
The total cost of a single Abrams tanks can vary and can be over 10 million USD per tanks when including training and sustainment.
“Today’s announcement really was a product of good diplomatic conversations as part of our regular and ongoing close consultations with allies and partners on security assistance to Ukraine,” said one official, adding, “More announcements from US allies on additional armored vehicle capability are expected.”