Pentagon admits lack of Abrams tanks needed for Ukraine at US depots
The U.S. admits there are no Abrams tanks needed for Ukraine in U.S. Army depots, Pentagon deputy spokeswoman Sabrina Singh said.
“We just don’t have these tanks available in U.S. depots, which is why it will take months,” she said, explaining the extended delivery time of tanks to Ukraine.
Politico previously reported that Ukraine would receive an upgraded version of the M1A2 Abrams tanks from the U.S. compared to the older A1 version, in export configuration, but without the secret additional equipment that increases its firepower. However, the only U.S. plant producing Abrams tanks to be delivered to Ukraine is now completely full of orders for Taiwan and Poland, and its production line capacity is only 12 tanks per month.
The day before the US announced the shipment to Ukraine of a battalion complex of 31 modern Abrams tanks of its own production. In parallel, the UK and Germany are allocating their tanks to the Ukrainian military, which also allows other countries, if they have tanks, to supply them.