So, to avoid
any confusion, I,m going to break this next down by the "numbers" to make things easy.
Para 1:
"...United States is
anticipated to begin delivering Abrams tanks to
Ukraine in September."
Para 2:
"As part of the plan, a
few Abrams tanks will be sent to
Germany in August for final refurbishment before being shipped to
Ukraine the following month. "
Para 3:
"The tanks are said to be
older M1A1 models, as they can be made available much sooner than
the more modern A2 version, which would have taken an
additional year to reach Ukraine. "
Para 5:
"The
initial shipment will include
6 to 8 tanks. A total of
31 tanks, equivalent to a
Ukrainian battalion's strength, are planned to be sent to Ukraine.
Pentagon spokesperson Col. Martin O'Donnell declined to provide specific details on the timeline but emphasized the U.S.'s commitment to expedite the process. Before Ukrainian forces can use the tanks, they are
required to complete a roughly
10-week training course on
31 trainer tanks at Germany's Grafenwoehr base. According to a separate Defense Department official, the Ukrainian troops are
expected to complete their training in August. "
I have discussed the training issue back in
May/June, at this time I have nothing to indicate any delays in that process.
Dealing with the tanks, we've
CLEARLY seen those tanks going into combat once the Battalions are
fully formed. Case in point as was
well covered dealt with the
M-55S which went through
3 months of training before they were
operational.
If we send them
8 tanks a month, we're looking at
Feb. 2024 before they become operational. I expect no further delays once all the tanks have arrived to fit out that Battalion, since the training is ongoing and operation unit training will start when the first tanks arrive. I'm starting to think the American training tanks will be used until that Battalion is
fully fitted out, thus again making them ready for combat once fully fitted out with
their own tanks.
The
only mismatched tank Battalion I'm aware of using Western tanks is the one that has the
LEOPARD 2A6 and the
STRV-122 (Arrived this month.) tanks.
Para 6:
"While there is hope that the tanks could
potentially arrive in Ukraine as
early as August, uncertainties remain due to the
refurbishment process, which involves stripping the older vehicles of sensitive technology, including secret depleted uranium armor. "
Almost my favorite para
^.
https://www.armyrecognition.com/ukra...september.html
Regards,
Pat
