In light of the fact that many relief supplies still have not reached Kyiv, President Zelensky stated that Ukraine needed 300 to 500 tanks for the counteroffensive campaign.
“300–500 tanks are what we’ll need. For a counteroffensive on its own territory, I think Ukraine needs a lot of tanks. To protect our forces, we need armoured vehicles “Volodymyr Zelensky, the president of Ukraine, made this statement in an interview that was aired on the UK’s Sky News channel on January 27.
Zelensky thanked the US and Europe for agreeing to back the M1A2 Abrams and Leopard 2 main combat tanks for Ukraine, but he also stressed that Kyiv does not have much time to wait since Moscow has a lot of tanks on the battlefield.
“I’ll be up front and state that the quantity of tanks and the timing of delivery are far more crucial than the choice about aid. Although numerous shipments of weaponry to Ukraine have been authorised, we have not yet received them. It is absurd that some nations pretend to help Ukraine and provide tanks while only committing to deliver 5. What shall we do about them? That is insufficient for one unit “said he.
The process of supplying M1A2 tanks to Ukraine will take many months, according to Pentagon deputy spokeswoman Sabrina Singh, who stated this on January 26. This is because the US stockpile does not have an excess of this weapon. The unidentified US official claimed that because Washington continues to forbid the export of Abrams tanks with depleted uranium (DU) armour, the M1A2s sent to Ukraine will be outfitted with armour in accordance with configurations for international clients.
“It can take months for weaponry to arrive. I must emphasise that while I don’t intend to criticise anyone, the mental calm only comes about once Ukrainian military begin using weapons that are assisted by allies “stated President Zelensky.
Only one assembly line for the Abrams tank exists in the US, at the General Dynamics facility in Ohio. Although this company no longer produces new M1 tanks, it nevertheless makes use of body frames that are already on hand. When an order is placed, they will be dispatched, and the manufacturer will instal the equipment using the configuration that the customer has suggested.
Although the General Dynamics plant has a monthly production capacity of 12 M1s, the line is currently operating at full capacity in order to provide Poland and the island of Taiwan with more than 300 Abrams tanks. As a result, getting tanks ready for Ukraine will take longer.
