While the industry official said the first batch of modifications has been completed, it’s unclear if all the necessary refurbishments can be finished by the end of August.īut the situation is more complicated than merely sending tanks and training crews. The tanks are not new instead, the older vehicles are being stripped of their most sensitive technology, including in some cases secret depleted uranium armor, before they can be sent to Ukraine. The first DOD official and another person familiar with Kyiv’s thinking said the tanks could even arrive in Ukraine as early as August, but that timeline may be overly optimistic. The Ukrainians are slated to finish that training in August, according to a separate DOD official. Martin O’Donnell, declining to discuss specifics on the timeline.īefore Ukrainian forces can begin operating the tanks, they have to wrap up a roughly 10-week course on 31 trainer tanks at the Grafenwoehr Army base in Germany. “We’re definitely working to get them to Ukraine as fast as we can,” said Pentagon spokesperson Col. is planning to send 31 tanks, a Ukrainian battalion’s worth. The initial batch will involve six to eight tanks, said the industry official and the congressional aide. Although Ukrainian troops have made some advances on one axis of attack in recent days, they are taking heavy artillery and aircraft fire as they move slowly through dense minefields and enemy foxholes. The arrival of the tanks in the coming weeks will add a new, lethal dimension to Ukraine’s inventory as its forces struggle to break through entrenched Russian defenses along a front line that stretches for hundreds of miles. wants to start training Ukrainian pilots on F-16 fighter jets before warplanes are delivered, possibly by the end of the year. The Biden administration has said it wants to deliver more weapons to Ukraine as quickly as possible, both to assist with the counteroffensive and bolster the nation’s defenses for the long-term. official, an industry official, a congressional aide and two others familiar with the discussions - were all granted anonymity to discuss sensitive plans that have yet to be announced. The six people - a Defense Department official, a U.S. is sending older M1A1 models instead of the more modern A2 version, which would have taken a year to get to Ukraine.
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