The US Army unveils its new Abrams M1A2 Systems Enhanced Package version three tank in Fort Stewart, Georgia, USA, 19 April 2022. EPA-EFE/STEPHEN B. MORTON
WASHINGTON, United States - The United States will deliver Abrams tanks to Ukraine by the fall of 2023 -- significantly faster than expected -- while Patriot air defenses will also arrive on an "expedited timeline," the Pentagon said Tuesday.
In coordination with Kyiv, Washington "made the decision to provide the M1A1 variant of the Abrams tank," Press Secretary Brigadier General Pat Ryder told journalists.
This "will enable us to significantly expedite delivery timelines and deliver this important capability to Ukraine by the fall of this year."
Ryder said the tanks would give Ukraine "a very similar capability to the M1A2" that Washington had originally intended to provide, but declined to go into specifics about differences between the variants.
M1A2s were expected to take more than a year, Ryder said, a timeline that would have put deliveries sometime in 2024.
A German soldier looks on as he shows how it works at the launching station of NATO's Patriot missile air defense system operated by German army unit Flugabwehrraketengruppe 26 (Air Defense Artillerie) placed at Sliac airbase in Sliac, central Slovakia, 10 May 2022. A Dutch-German air and missile defense forces deployed Patriot system in spring 2022 to reinforce defense capabilities on Eastern NATO border following Russia's military invasion in Ukraine. EPA-EFE/MARTIN DIVISEK
Ukraine will also receive advanced Patriot air defenses sooner than originally anticipated.
"We're confident that we'll be able to get the Patriots there on an expedited timeline," Ryder said, noting that Ukrainians being trained on the system "went faster than expected, just given their propensity and their eagerness to do the training."
The United States has spearheaded the push for international support for Ukraine, quickly forging an international coalition to back Kyiv after Russia invaded in February 2022 and coordinating aid from dozens of countries.
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