Iran Press/ America: The Defense Department announced in January that 31 M1A2 Abrams tanks would be delivered to Ukraine, but officials had speculated it would take about a year to make that happen. Now, they say, the US will instead send M1A1 Abrams tanks from refurbished hulls already in US inventory, and the delivery will be in the fall faster than what was initially expected.
“This is about getting this important combat capability into the hands of the Ukrainians sooner rather than later,” said Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder, the Pentagon press secretary.
The Biden administration announced in January that it would send the tanks to Ukraine after insisting for months that they were too complicated and too hard to maintain and repair. The decision was part of a broader political maneuver that opened the door for Germany to announce it would send its Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine and allow Poland and other allies to do the same.
It’s unclear how soon the U.S. would begin training Ukrainian forces on how to use, maintain and repair the tanks. 219
