A senior U.S. defense official said today that there is a definite possibility that the U.S. government could transfer unspecified tanks to the Ukrainian armed forces in the future.
The remarks from the senior U.S. defense official about tanks for Ukraine were included in a routine Pentagon press briefing about the state of Russia's war on that country earlier today. Ukrainian forces continue to push ahead with a major counter-offensive that began some four weeks ago and has already led to the liberation of a substantial amount of previously occupied territory. Foreign military aid packages full of weapons, ammunition, and other materiel – especially U.S.-supplied High-Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) firing 227mm Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System (GMRLS) rockets and air-launched AGM-88 High-speed Anti-Radiation Missiles (HARM) – have been key to these successes, and continued deliveries are likely to be essential for keeping up the momentum.
"Tanks are absolutely on the table," the senior U.S. defense official said, according to VOA's Carla Babb. The senior U.S. defense official did say that Ukrainian forces would need to demonstrate their ability to maintain more modern Western tanks before American authorities would agree to provide them, according to Foreign Policy's Jack Detsch.
American Tanks For Ukraine Are 'Absolutely On The Table'
There is already speculation about the possibility of U.S.-made M1 Abrams tanks heading to Ukraine, but there are other potential options.
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Kannatan strykerin lähetystä, mutta heidän pitää osata liittää se heidän kokoonpanoonsaTransferring wheeled 8x8 M1128 Stryker Mobile Gun System (MGS), which are armed with 105mm guns, but are not tanks, could be another potential option for the U.S. military to help bolster Ukraine's armored vehicle fleets. The U.S. Army announced its plans to divest all of its M1128s last year, meaning that they'd be readily available to send to the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
These vehicles could be particularly well suited for Ukraine under the circumstances, being simpler and cheaper to operate and maintain than an Abrams, if also less capable. In addition, with the Army's retirement of the M1128s, there are no other 105mm gun-armed vehicles currently in U.S. military service, making it just that much less of an issue to transfer relevant ammunition. It is, of course, worth noting that the Army's future Mobile Protected Firepower (MPF) light tanks will be armed with 105mm main guns.
No matter what, heavy armor, in general, continues to be very actively employed on both sides of the current conflict in Ukraine, despite equally active discussions about whether the fighting has proven that tanks are increasingly unsuited to modern battlefields. Even older armored vehicles have proven useful in a conflict where the opposing side has also been making use of dated types, at least in part due to attrition.
As such, it's hardly surprising that tanks and other armored vehicles continue have been and continue to be high on the Ukrainian government's military aid wishlists. Replenishing armored vehicles lost in the fighting so far, and potentially upgrading Ukraine's ground combat capabilities in the process, is perhaps even more important now in light of the ongoing counter-offensive.
All told, it still very much remains to be seen when any American tanks might actually make their way to Ukraine, and what types might be transferred. At the same time, even older Western tanks could still be a major boon to the Ukrainian military's ongoing fight to push back the Russian invaders.
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