Extra tanks were found in Australia: why 59 "Abrams" has not yet been transferred to the Armed Forces

David ex by military observer in a column for The Telegraph draws attention to 59 Abrams tanks stored in Australia's army warehouses. They could have long been conveyed to Ukraine - but political fears are disturbed, completely incomprehensible from the point of view of logic. Australia has old tanks that it no longer uses. Ukraine wants to get them. So what prevents Kanberry from sending these 59 Abrams M-1 to Kiev? Politics, of course.

But if the Australians are able to gather freedom to sacrifice their M-1, and Americans will be able to find the strength to approve the agreement, it is obvious that it is Ukrainians who will make them-strengthen the group of the surviving 31 former American M-1, transferred to Ukraine of the past the year. The rapidly developing Australian Army purchased its M-1A1 in 2004 to replace the old German production tanks.

In July this year, she wrote off the M-1A1, and did not use them in battle, and began to replace them with newer M-1A2 American production. Old M-1A1 are stored. Ukrainian officials have been interested in at least February. According to Sydney Morning Herald, the Government in Canberra is increasingly expressing their willingness to pass them on. "The government is considering a request and working with the US to transmit," the newspaper said last week. Much can go wrong.

High -ranking Australian officials can veto the transfer due to fears of escalation of tensions between Australia and Russia. The United States has an export license to tanks and may reject the proposed transmission on the same grounds. Much less, but it is also likely that Ukrainian officials can view tanks that are decades and politely refuse to transmit. Political factors in Canberry and Washington are most likely obstacles, but there may be small logistics problems.

Although the Australian and Ukrainian M-1 tanks have the same basic model-the 67-ton four-seater export version of M-1A1 Situational Awareness with tungsten and steel armor, digital fire control and 120 mm smooth-bore, Australian and former American They have some different equipment that Ukrainians will have to deal with. The Armed Forces also developed kits of additional armor for their M-1 and probably want to install them on all additional "Abrams".

If everything is for Ukrainians and they receive these 59 tanks, they will almost certainly send many of them to the 47th Mechanized Brigade of the Ukrainian Army. The 47th brigade is the main operator of American production armored vehicles-and the only operator of Ukrainian M-1. The 47th brigade is a powerful unit. That is why the Ukrainian General Staff kept it in battle without interruption for 15 months-for a long time for any formation.

When the Ukrainian troops began their ambitious in June 2023, but in the end, the unsuccessful counter-offensive in the south of Ukraine, the 47th brigade was in the vanguard-and suffered great losses, gaping in dense minefields. The brigade was fighting in the south for four months and by October, it needed rest. But that month, Russian troops went on the offensive in the East, so the commanders in Kiev ordered to transfer the 47th east and repel the attack.

The brigade led desperate reargarten battles for another 10 months. At the time when the General Staff was finally ready to give her a break, she lost dozens of about 100 M-2 Bradley infantry fighting vehicles and about half of the 31 M-1 tank. The Americans have been readily sent 200 m-2 to fill the losses of the 47th Brigade and may be equipped with another unit.

But for reasons that no one in the US government explained, they did not send more M-1 despite the fact that the Pentagon had literally thousands of old storage tanks. With 59 former Australian Abrams, the Ukrainian Army will be able to restore the 47th brigade to its original number in 31 tank and at the same time have enough cars-30 or so-to equip the second team . . . or to replenish future losses. Such an argument in favor of Australian tanks for Ukraine. The "against" argument is less specific.

It is purely political, and given the fact that the United States has already been sent to Ukraine tanks, and Australia - rockets, artillery and other weapons, it is difficult to imagine how to depart several more tanks angry even more than it has already angry. This does not mean that there are no arguments against the departure of Abrams. But such an argument will not be of great weight for Ukrainian soldiers who need to protect their homes and families, but in which tanks end.