The M1A1 Abrams tanks the U.S. will deliver to Ukraine are “in the refurbishment process right now,” a Pentagon spokesperson confirmed Monday, while 31 tanks for training are in place now for training.
Air Force Brig. Gen. Patrick Ryder, the Pentagon press secretary, told reporters Ukrainian tank crews are expected to arrive in Grafenwöhr, Germany for Abrams training “in the next couple weeks.”
“As we’ve discussed previously, this extensive training program for Ukrainian crews and maintainers is intended to prepare them for their critical roles ahead in effectively operating the M1 tank and defending the Ukrainian people,” Ryder said during Monday’s press briefing.
The Biden administration announced plans in late January to supply Ukraine with 31 General Dynamics Land Systems [GD]-built Abrams tanks as part of a $400 million weapons aid package to be procured with Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI) funds (Defense Daily, January 25).
The Pentagon in March then detailed plans to accelerate its timeline for delivering the Abrams tanks to Ukraine by the fall, noting the U.S. would now provide refurbished M1A1 tanks rather than the newer M1A2 variant (Defense Daily, March 21).
The A1 variants to be delivered by this fall will be “excess hulls in our inventory that we will refurbish, refit through a combination of USAI and security assistance packages,” Ryder told reporters in March, adding that the Pentagon doesn’t anticipate the cost will be “very much beyond” the $400 million from the previously announced USAI package.
“They will be updated, upgraded and prepared for exportability to Ukraine. And because we are doing this concurrently [with the training], we will be able to provide those tanks to them in the fall timeframe to get them into Ukraine before the end of the year,” Ryder said on Monday.
Ryder was asked Monday on why the tanks for training won’t be provided to Ukraine for use in the potential offensive campaign.
“First of all, these tanks are intended specifically for training. [They] don’t necessarily have the capabilities that they would need to go into combat,” Ryder said.
Army Gen. Mark Milley, chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, provided similar comments recently on the difference between the training tanks and the M1A1 Abrams that will be delivered to Ukraine (Defense Daily, April 21).
“Those [training tanks] aren’t quite combat-capable. And they’ll be used to train the crews on how to shoot, maneuver and maintain these tanks,” Milley said during a press briefing alongside Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin following the 10th meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group at Ramstein Air Base in Germany last month.