Australia has begun the process of loading Abrams tanks onto a ship, which means the start of the transfer of these combat vehicles to Ukraine.
This was reported by the Australian publication ABC.Net.AU, relying on its own sources, noting that the country's government does not intend to disclose when the vehicles are expected to arrive in Europe due to "security reasons".
Read more: Australian Donation of Abrams Tanks to Ukraine May Face "Complications" Over Trump's Decisions
At the same time, this message was published after Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, during a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Rome on Sunday, May 18, reported that the tanks were already heading to Ukraine.
From Defense Express, we recall that we are talking about 49 M1A1 SA Abrams tanks - 31 tanks of the same modification Ukraine previously received from the US, as became known in September 2023. It should be noted that the Australian vehicles do not have depleted uranium armor, which the US banned for export, so these tanks can be immediately transferred to the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
This means that Canberra was able to obtain approval from Washington to re-export Abrams tanks to Ukraine, even despite, as the Australian publication writes, "despite American officials remaining privately frustrated about the donation". This is quite a positive moment, given the current position of the White House, which seems to be more inclined to reach a compromise with the aggressor country, the russian federation, than to help Ukraine.
The decision to transfer Abrams tanks to Ukraine was made by the Australian Government back in October 2024. It should be recalled that just a few weeks ago, Australia found an excuse not to transfer the vehicles to Ukraine with more than dubious explanations in the style of "but Ukraine doesn't really need these Abrams tanks". That is, just a few days ago, the fate of these vehicles could repeat the fate of the MRH90 Taipan helicopters, which Australia simply disposed of, despite the fact that Ukraine asked to transfer them.
In any case, the main thing is that almost fifty M1A1 SA Abrams tanks will strengthen the Armed Forces of Ukraine. But you should not expect this to happen tomorrow.
Firstly, the ship with these tanks has yet to reach Europe. This alone can take from about 25 days - for delivery to one of the ports of Greece, or about 35 days - to reach a port in Poland. It may take some time to transport these vehicles to Ukraine.
In Ukraine, the Australian M1A1 SA Abrams tanks will not immediately go into battle with the russians, as they will have to undergo additional modernization. They will most likely have to be additionally equipped with nets as well as with ERA armor blocks to better protect the vehicles against russian drones and other anti-tank weapons. After that, the Australian tanks must be mastered by Ukrainian tankers. Then the combat coordination of the unit that will use these tanks must take place. Only after that (approximately in 3-4 months) the Australian tanks might appear on the battlefield to be able to clear the Ukrainian land of russian occupiers.
As Defense Express reported, Abrams tanks of the M1A1 SA modification entered service with the 47th Mechanized Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine early 2024. We also wrote, that Ukrainian M1 Abrams Tank Was Spotted with ARAT Reactive Armor.
Read more: U.S. is Blocking Australian Tanks For Ukraine But Also Pressures Greece to Hand Over Its Patriot — What's the Logic?
