President Joe Biden announced Wednesday that the U.S. will send 31 M1 Abrams battle tanks to Ukraine, reversing months of persistent arguments that the tanks were too difficult for Ukrainian troops to operate and maintain.
I suspect that the senior bureaucrats/generals in the Army are making the Classic Russian Mistake: Underestimating the Ukrainians.
31 tanks is a start. 155 would be better. The Ukrainians need enough high-quality weapons to push the Russians out of every square meter of Ukraine. Shame on everyone who isn't making that happen. (Looking at you, Herr Scholtz.)
Or maybe the Army tankers are worried that their Abrams tanks will be shown to be not as good as advertised?
Abrams present logistical problems that Leopards don't is the short answer. Maybe Abrams end up guarding the peace?
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Exactly, Jon. The Abrams basically requires a whole new battlefield supply chain, and A&P’s to maintain it. The Leopard 2 is a diesel, so the only real change is main cannon rounds. Both have bonus, high tech, comm gear that they will likely lighten to reduce tech risks and training time. That will slightly reduce effectiveness, but not too much.
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