US will send Ukraine more advanced Abrams tanks, but without "secret armour"

The Abrams tanks that the United States intends to transfer to Ukraine are the modern M1A2, not the A1, which the US military has in stock, but they will also be stripped of their so-called secret armour, which includes depleted uranium.

Source: Politico, referring to three informed sources; European Pravda.

The M1A2 Abrams has more advanced optics and a control system than the A1, which allows for more accurate targeting, and a separate thermal camera for the crew commander, allowing him independent identification of targets in any weather and battlefield conditions.

The new modification of the tank contains digitised control mechanisms, which allow machines to continuously and automatically exchange information, quickly track the location of allied machines, identify enemy positions and process artillery requests.

At the same time, those Abrams that Ukraine will receive will be deprived of the secret armour packages used by the American military, which include depleted uranium. The USA uses the same practice when selling tanks to other countries.

Any modification of the Abrams is significantly more effective in terms of firepower, accuracy and armour compared to the Soviet-era tanks currently used by Ukraine. However, they are more difficult to operate.

Among other things, Abrams tanks have a turbojet engine that uses expensive JP-8 jet fuel, require extensive maintenance, as well as powerful infrastructure, including M88 repair and recovery vehicles to repair broken parts on the battlefield.

Currently, it is equally difficult to determine the timing of when Ukraine will receive Abrams tanks. They will be purchased from the industry. Tanks are assembled in only one place, at the state-owned General Dynamics plant in Ohio, which is currently loaded with new orders for Taiwan and Poland.

On 25 January, US President Joe Biden confirmed his intention to send 31 M1 Abrams tanks to Ukraine, equal to one Ukrainian battalion, to strengthen its defence capabilities against the backdrop of Russian aggression.

Along with the tanks, the USA will train the Ukrainian military and provide spare parts as soon as possible.

For his part, Konstantin Gavrilov, Head of the Russian delegation in Vienna at the OSCE Forum, stated that the German Leopard 2 tanks are equipped with sub-calibre armour-piercing shells with uranium cores, and Moscow will consider their use in Ukraine against Russians as the use of "dirty bombs".

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