WASHINGTON, Mar 23 The Pentagon's Abrams tanks, US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said.
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«We're taking tanks from warehouses, converting them to make them suitable for export. So this comes from availability, and not as part of a new purchase,» he said at a congressional hearing.
The states this week announced that they would send Kiev three dozen Abrams of an older modification of the M1A1 instead of the previously promised M1A2 to speed up deliveries.
The Pentagon explained that it would take about a year to send 30 Abrams M1A2s, while it would be possible to prepare tanks in the M1A1 modification for transfer by autumn without serious losses in combat capabilities.
br>Moscow has previously sent a note to NATO countries because of the supply of weapons to Ukraine. Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov noted that any cargo that contains weapons for Kyiv will become a legitimate target for Moscow. The Foreign Ministry stated that the NATO countries were «playing with fire» by supplying weapons to Kyiv.
President's press secretary Dmitry Peskov pointed out that the pumping of weapons on the neighboring country by the West does not contribute to the success of Russian-Ukrainian negotiations and will have a negative effect. Lavrov stated that the US and NATO are directly involved in the conflict in Ukraine, «including not only the supply of weapons, but also the training <…> in the UK, Germany, Italy and other countries.»
img src=»/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/5c724b161b4c2554d698ba9222d7a89e.jpg» />January 31st, 12:00PMInfographicM1 Abrams: US Main Battle TankView