The first U.S. Abrams tanks pledged to Ukraine have arrived in the country and are being prepared to send into battle, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced Monday.
“Good news from Defense Minister [Rustem] Umerov. Abrams are already in Ukraine and are preparing to reinforce our brigades. I am grateful to our allies for fulfilling the agreements!” Zelensky wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Zelensky added that Ukraine is “looking for new contracts and expanding the geography of supply.”
The Pentagon confirmed the tanks arrived in Ukraine, with a spokesperson saying “the mere presence of Abrams tanks serves as a potent deterrent.”
“By having these tanks in their arsenal, the Ukrainian army can more effectively discourage aggressive actions,” the Defense Department spokesperson told The Hill. “We will continue to focus on what we can do to help Ukraine succeed on the battlefield and protect its people.”
This again… Yes, the Abrams needs more fuel, than for example the Leopard 2. But it’s actually not that much more. I’ll dig up the numbers later, when I’m home. Also the claim about jetfuel: The Abrams uses (mainly) JP8. And so do most if not all vehicles of the US military. This was done to unburden logistics - You only need to ship JP8 if everything in your arsenal uses it. And JP8 is basically Dieselfuel with worse lubrication properties than regular Diesel.
I retract everything and assert the opposite.
But, hey, at least you don’t have to explain to people that a squad bringing a broomstick to an exercise to argue to brass that their command vehicle should have a gun even though it doesn’t have a dedicated gunner does not even begin to be embarrassing.