Ukrainian soldiers training on US M1 Abrams tanks in Germany have reached the end of their planned training program, but Kiev wants them to remain there until the tanks are ready for delivery, a US military official told Insider on Friday.
About 200 Ukrainians “just completed one of the final phases of their 12-week training program, a combined arms, battalion force-by-force exercise at the Hohenfels Training Area,” said Col. Martin O’Donnell, a spokesman for U.S. Army Europe and Africa, in a statement. The soldiers will now return to the Grafenwoehr training area where they trained previously
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“There, at Ukraine’s request, the soldiers will retain their operator and maintenance skills until the 31 tanks that the US has committed to refurbish and deliver to Ukraine by the fall are ready,” O’Donnell added. The training is expected to last weeks and continue into the fall.
Facing international pressure to equip Ukraine with tanks, the Biden administration said earlier this year it would deliver new M1A2 Abrams tanks to Kiev’s army to complement pledges by other NATO allies such as Germany and the United Kingdom, which have offered their own. own main battle tanks.
The US later announced that it would instead send older, upgraded M1A1 variants to Ukraine, as those tanks were already in the Pentagon’s inventory and could be delivered sooner.
Training Ukrainians to operate and maintain the tanks – an initial three-month effort led by the US military – is “just one part” of a global effort to help Ukraine defend itself against Russia, O’Donnell said, adding that Washington and its partners have trained over 70,000 Ukrainian soldiers since the start of full-scale war in February 2022. Stars and Stripes first reported Ukraine’s request to keep its soldiers in Germany for further training.
While U.S. officials have routinely said the Abrams tanks will reach the battlefield this fall, the exact timeline remains unclear.
“We are confident that we can deliver these tanks when we said we would, which will be before the end of this year. And by all accounts the training has gone well for these tank crews, but certainly at the right time We will provide updates on delivery,” Pentagon press secretary Brig. gen. Pat Ryder. He declined to provide further details, citing operational security concerns.
The planned delivery of Abrams tanks could come at a crucial time for Ukraine, which is currently engaged in counter-offensive operations on several fronts in the eastern and southern parts of the country and may still attempt offensive operations in the fall. Massive Russian defensive lines – consisting of minefields, trenches, barbed wire and anti-tank obstacles – are slowing the Ukrainian advance.
The Abrams tanks will complement Ukraine’s expanding inventory of armored vehicles that it has acquired from the US and its NATO partners over the past few months. Meanwhile, US officials have suggested that the Abrams tanks are expected to give Kiev a significant increase in battlefield firepower.
“The Abrams will certainly make an impact on the battlefield. I mean, we know it’s an exceptional tank,” said Lt. Gen. Douglas Sims II, director of operations for the U.S. Army’s Joint Chiefs of Staff, adding that the training will make the Ukrainians ” extremely good” in using the tanks.
“I can’t tell you if the offensive will continue until then or not, I just know that when the Abrams arrive, they will be able to see the difference with the Ukrainians,” Sims said.
The Abrams tanks the U.S. plans to deliver to Ukraine are part of more than $43 billion in security aid the U.S. has committed to Ukraine since Russia invaded last year. But as the war approaches the 18-month mark, Kiev continues to press its Western military partners to send additional weapons systems such as fighter jets and long-range missiles.
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2023-08-18 18:33:00
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