Last Friday, the pressure was palpable. Top defense leaders from more than 50 countries met at Ramstein Air Base in Germany to discuss Ukraine’s ongoing weapons and equipment needs. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, spoke and met with their German counterparts and other allies. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Army Gen. administration official said talks had been going on for some time but “in a much more intensified way over the last number of weeks.” The official spoke on condition of anonymity to provide details on the decision.įrom President Joe Biden on down, calls were made, including to Scholz. and Germany reach agreement to send tanks to UkraineĮchoing Scholz, a senior U.S. “This is the result of intensive consultations, once again, with our allies and international partners,” Chancellor Olaf Scholz said in an address to German lawmakers on Wednesday. and German officials both used the word “intensive” to describe the talks that ultimately led to the tank turnabout by both countries. The impasse frustrated European allies, such as Poland, who wanted to send Leopards but couldn’t without Germany’s OK. The U.S., meanwhile, argued that the German-made Leopards were a better fit because Ukrainian troops could get them and get trained on them far more quickly and easily. put its Abrams on the table, due to concerns that supplying the tanks would incur Russia’s wrath. Germany had been reluctant to send the Leopards, or allow allies to send them, unless the U.S. The arm-twisting turnaboutĭespite all the drawbacks expressed by the U.S., when all was said and done, it came down to political realities and a diplomatic dance. Ukrainian forces will have to learn how to operate its more complex systems, and how to keep it running and fueled. The Abrams also will require months of training. It may or may not be the right system,” The under secretary of defense for policy, Colin Kahl, told reporters last week at the Pentagon. … It is not the easiest system to maintain. “The Abrams tank is a very complicated piece of equipment. When those vent filters get clogged - whether by sand, as soldiers reported to GAO in 1992, or by debris they might encounter in Ukraine - they can’t perform. In addition, like any jet engine, the Abrams’ turbine needs air to breathe, which it sucks in through filtered rear vents. While an Abrams can storm through the snow and mud, fuel trucks can’t. worried that the fuel demands would create a logistical nightmare for Ukrainian forces. It will burn through fuel at a rate of at least two gallons per mile (4.7 liters per kilometer), whether the tank is moving or idling, Butler said, which means a constant supply convoy of fuel trucks must stay within reach so it can keep moving forward. The Abrams’ jet engine needs hundreds of gallons of fuel to operate. The Abrams, he said, “didn’t even notice” the mud. Butler recalled a muddy exercise in the late 1990s at Fort Stewart, Georgia, where he’d voiced concern about the tanks getting stuck because it had already stuck the Humvees. The Abrams’ powerful jet engine can propel the tank through almost any terrain, whether heavy snow or heavy mud, said Kevin Butler, a former Army lieutenant who served as an Abrams tank platoon leader. More recently, the battle titans led the charge to Baghdad during America’s 2003 invasion of Iraq, as 3rd Infantry Division units conducted what was dubbed “Thunder Runs” to break through Iraqi defenses. WATCH: White House says battle tanks will ‘have an effect’ in Ukraine It has thick armor, a 120 mm main gun, armor piercing capabilities, advanced targeting systems, thick tracked wheels and a 1,500-horsepower turbine engine with a top speed of about 42 miles per hour (68 kilometers per hour).Ĭrews interviewed in a 1992 Government Accountability Office review after the Persian Gulf War praised its high survivability and said “several M1A1 crews reported receiving direct frontal hits from Iraqi T-72s with minimal damage.” M1 Abrams tanks have led American battle assaults for decades.Ĭarrying a crew of four, the Abrams was first deployed to war in 1991. said it will send 31 of the 70-ton Abrams battle tanks to Ukraine, and Germany announced it will send 14 Leopard 2 tanks and allow other countries to do the same.Ī look at the massive battle weapon, why it is important to Ukraine’s war with Russia, and what drove the Biden administration’s tank turnabout. And it resulted in in a quick succession of announcements: The U.S. The dramatic reversal was the culmination of intense international pressure and diplomatic arm-twisting that played out over the last week. Ukraine’s desperate pleas for tanks were answered with a sweeping, trans-Atlantic yes. officials balked at sending M1 Abrams tanks to Ukraine, insisting they were too complicated and too hard to maintain and repair.
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