The USA is accelerating the transfer of Abrams tanks to Ukraine, which were previously planned to be delivered in early 2024. And the tanks will be delivered to the test site in Germany by the end of May, in a few weeks Ukrainian tankers will start training, which will last 10 weeks.
This is with reference to the statements of high-ranking American officials during the meeting in Ramstein, the Associated Press reports. But the fact is that these will be training vehicles, and not 31 units of the M1A1 SA tank. The decision to train Ukrainian soldiers on training machines, which are not provided for before the transfer, will allow the M1A1 SA to be put into battle immediately after their production. But the terms when this will be done remain unknown.
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A possible guideline is the duration of the training itself, which should begin in June and last 2.5 months, i.e. approximately until September. But the article noted that additional training may begin after the 10-week course. That is, so far the dates of the appearance of Abrams in service with the Armed Forces of Ukraine may be determined within September-October 2023.
The number of Ukrainian soldiers who will undergo training was also announced: 250 servicemen who make up tank crews and specialists in vehicle repair and maintenance. But in this case, we are talking about 124 tankers (31 tanks with 4 crew members) and 126 technicians, which is a rather strange proportion, even considering training and crews for multipurpose tractors.
Defense Express notes that during the training on Leopard 2 tanks in Spain, 40 crew members were trained, i.e. a full-time staff of 10 tanks and 15 maintenance specialists. In Poland, according to official statements, 105 soldiers were trained: 84 tankers for 21 tank crews and another 21 technicians. The proportion in Germany remained unknown.
That is, all things considered, the Pentagon planned to transfer a slightly different number of Abrams tanks than 31 machines, either by training more crews or by increasing the number of maintenance specialists.
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