During a briefing at the Pentagon, representatives of the US Department of Defense explained how the discussion on supplying tanks and infantry fighting vehicles to Ukraine is developing. The fact is, the other day, some media shared information that Washington was already considering the supply of heavy armored vehicles to the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
In particular, the German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung came out with such information. The newspaper said the equipment in question was no other than Abrams itself, and also called on the allies to evaluate the possibility of strengthening the AFU with German-made Leopard 2 tanks.
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The Pentagon responded to a request to confirm this information as follows:
"The Ukrainians are showing that they are quite effective in the counter-offensive in using armor as part of their counter-offensive. So, clearly, that kind of capability is important. But we don't have any specific plans about a specific capability at this point for that medium- to longer-term thinking about actual programs of provision."
Thus, the discussion on whether to provide such tanks as Abrams and Leopard 2, as well as IFVs, in particular the American M2 Bradley, is at a similar stage as it is with fighter jets. In other words, it is objectively impossible to say Ukraine will receive Western heavy armored vehicles in the near future.
At the same time, the transition from securing the current short-term to the current medium-term perspective can be quite rapid. At many levels, Ukraine is now striving for precisely three types of weapons from its allies: long-range missiles, fighter jets and heavy armored vehicles. Regarding the latter, the Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal directly calls on the West to provide Abrams and Leopard 2.
But given the current composition of the armed forces in the allied counties, the only realistic source of a sufficient number of tanks can only be the United States. According to Military Balance, the US Army has 3,700 Abrams M1A1/A2 tanks in stock.
When it comes to these, we should take into account that even after a positive decision on their supply, it will take some time to bring them out from reservation. In particular, for Poland, the deadline for receiving 116 Abrams M1A1 SA under the "ring exchange" agreement – as compensation for the T-72 and PT-91 provided to Ukraine – is about a year.
Read more: Ukraine Called on US and Germany to Provide Abrams and Leopard 2: How Realistic It Is
