Timing for both delivery of the tanks to Ukraine and the training of Ukrainian troops is fuzzy. Asked directly about German pressure, Biden told reporters, “Germany didn’t force me to change our mind.” WHEN WILL UKRAINE RECEIVE THE ABRAMS TANKS? Asked repeatedly what changed, Biden administration officials sidestepped. Gradually, the German stance began to publicly soften, leading to Wednesday's announcements. Leaders from countries that have Leopard tanks met with the new German defense minister. 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. “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.Įchoing Scholz, a senior U.S. 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. WHY DID THE BIDEN ADMINISTRATION CHANGE ITS MIND ABOUT SENDING THEM TO UKRAINE?ĭespite all the drawbacks expressed by the U.S., when all was said and done, it came down to political realities and a diplomatic dance. The Abrams tanks are made by General Dynamics and each one costs over $10 million when including training and upkeep, according to Reuters. 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 tanks' fuel demands would create a logistical nightmare for Ukrainian forces. WHY WAS THE US APPREHENSIVE ABOUT GIVING UKRAINE ABRAMS TANKS? 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. Ron DeSantis agrees to debate Gavin NewsomĬrews 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.”
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