Ukraine to receive more advanced Abrams tanks, but without secret armor

Politico reports that the A2 version has more sophisticated optics and controls than the older A1 version, which the army intends to retire in the next few years. The A2 tank has a redesigned weapons command station with improved optics for targeting and an independent thermal imaging device that allows the commander to scan targets independently in all weather and combat conditions.

The most radical changes are on the inside, which have been redesigned to take advantage of new technologies. The control mechanisms have been digitized, especially the new inter-vehicle information system, which allows vehicles to exchange information continuously and automatically. Commanders can also quickly track the location of friendly vehicles, identify enemy positions, as well as process artillery requests.

But federal policy prohibits exporting Abrams with secret armor packages that contain depleted uranium. The US strips vehicles of this secret armor "recipe" before selling them to other countries. There are other armor packages that the US can provide to foreign customers.

Questions remain about the timing of the delivery of Abrams tanks to Ukraine. They are assembled in only one place - at the state-owned General Dynamics plant in Lima, Ohio. This plant can produce 12 tanks a month, but the line is now full of new orders for tanks for Taiwan and Poland - orders that would be difficult and likely controversial to put on hold.

The Army is giving senior leadership several options to determine the way forward, Doug Bush, the service's chief acquisition officer, told reporters on Wednesday.

Poland has ordered 250 A2 tanks to be delivered starting in 2025, but in the meantime is receiving an emergency infusion of 116 M1A1 tanks recently retired by the Marine Corps. Warsaw asked for the tanks to quickly replace the 250 Soviet T-72 tanks it handed over to Ukraine last year, and the closure of the Marine Corps' tank units immediately made hundreds of tanks in serviceable condition available.

In 2019, Taiwan ordered 108 M1A2 tanks, and the first are expected to be delivered in 2024.

Instead of sending tanks to Ukraine from its own stockpile, as it did with previous weapons, the US has said it is buying Abrams off the shelf, meaning they will not arrive on the battlefield for many months or possibly years, given industrial limitations in modernizing them. In the meantime, the US will train Ukrainian forces in how to maintain and operate the tanks, as well as in "total force maneuver" tactics to help them integrate the weapons into their overall operations.

Either version of the Abrams will be a significant upgrade over the Soviet-era tanks Ukraine currently operates in terms of firepower, accuracy, and armor. But once they arrive, Ukrainian forces will face the challenge of keeping them operational, experts say.

It is because of these problems that the Biden administration has pushed for the delivery of German-made Leopard tanks, which are easier to maintain. It is likely that the first Leopards from Germany and other European countries will start arriving in Ukraine this spring.

• On January 25, US President Joe Biden said that Ukraine would receive 31 Abrams tanks.