Ukraine expects 31 Abrams tanks in May in Grafenwöhr, Germany
ANKARA, TURKEY — The 31 Abrams tanks promised by the US to Ukraine may soon arrive in Europe. Clash Report says that in mid or late May, 31 x M1A1 Abrams will arrive at the Grafenwöhr Training Base, Germany. The source writes that it will take at least 10 weeks to train the Ukrainian tank crews.
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If the information is reliable, this means that sometime in early August, Ukrainian tank crews will be trained to work with the American Abrams main battle tank.
BulgarianMilitary.com recalls that the Pentagon said that in the fall or the end of 2023, Ukraine will receive the promised tanks. In this regard, the information from the Clash Report does not contrast with Washington’s claims. However, it is not excluded that the information is true and that Washington was able to deal with the equipment for Ukraine more quickly.
It is not yet known where the US will supply the 31 tanks to Ukraine. After announcing in January that Washington was ready to send its own tanks to Kyiv, different opinions appeared in the media. Some speculate that the 31 tanks will be a mix of built and depleted stocks, as Beaking Defense writes. But the US media also suggested that the M1A1 Abrams could come entirely from US stockpiles.
Very soon another opportunity appeared and it is called Egypt. It recently became clear that Cairo intended to secretly supply ammunition to Russia. The Pentagon Papers Leaks information about this. However, after the documents were leaked to the public domain, analysts say Cairo is changing its position.
It is entirely possible that, under pressure from Washington, Cairo will become a co-supplier of the M1A1 Abrams. On the outskirts of the Egyptian capital is the only plant for these tanks outside the US. Although the Abrams tanks are not mentioned, Egypt is already rumored to be ready to send Ukraine 152- and 155-mm shells.
The Ukrainian armed forces are already training on the German Leopard 2 tanks and the British Challenger 2 tanks. Some tank crews have completed their training, and others are continuing on the training grounds in Poland and Germany.
BulgarianMilitary.com recalls that at the end of last year, the so-called tank coalition. Germany was under enormous pressure from Europe and the US to send its tanks to Kyiv. Despite the long opposition to such a decision, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz eventually agreed, but by making a counter-proposal – that the US also send tanks to Ukraine.
So Washington agreed to the German offer and agreed to send Abrams. To this day, however, there are still opinions that the Abrams will be useless in Ukraine. One such opinion was expressed by US national security adviser Jake Sullivan in a television interview. The interview was in February of this year, and according to Sullivan’s statement, the US president was beginning to confront opinions among senior military personnel around him that the Abrams did not make sense in Ukraine, therefore the Leopards were the best option.
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