The Australian Department of Defense announced the completion of the delivery of its M1A1 SA Abrams tanks, which was announced in October 2024. The operation to transfer these tanks was called Kudu – Europe.
According to a press release, 49 Abrams tanks, valued at $245 million, have been transferred. This amounts to $5 million per tank, although earlier reports cited $164 million in total, or $3.34 million per unit.
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Australia had 59 M1A1 SA Abrams tanks in its arsenal, although only 49 were transferred. It was decided to keep 10 units for training tank crews before switching to the more modern M1A2 SEPv3.
Although plans to transfer these tanks to Ukraine were officially announced in October 2024, loading onto ships for delivery only began in May this year. The first batch of tanks was transferred in July, and the last one just a few days ago.
The extended transport time is due to the tanks first needing to be loaded onto ships and then transported by sea to ports in Greece or Poland. The journey was previously expected to take 25–35 days, but according to the Australian Department of Defense, it actually took 55 days.
Following unloading and transfer to Ukraine, the tanks will still require additional time before deployment. They are set to undergo upgrades, including welded anti-drone nets, reactive armor, and electronic warfare systems.
In addition, crews will likely need to undergo training on these vehicles, which also takes more than a month. The tanks delivered in July could theoretically have already gone through all of these stages, or at least some of them.
It should be noted that the U.S. expressed some resistance throughout this process. In particular, the U.S. officials were skeptical about this transfer due to the complexity of maintenance. In addition, the U.S. blocked the logistics hub in Poland, potentially causing further delays in the transfer.
Even before approval, Australia explored reasons not to send its M1A1 SA Abrams tanks to Ukraine, aiming not to upset the White House. Among the reasons given was the somewhat dubious argument that "Ukraine doesn't really need these Abrams tanks."
In the end, the decision was made, and despite everything, the Americans gave Australia permission to re-export Abrams tanks to Ukraine, which was clearly a positive sign.
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