According to the publication, they will be built by special orderWASHINGTON, January 30.
/tass/. The United States will transfer Abrams tanks to Kiev in late 2023 or early 2024. The Washington Post wrote about this on Saturday.
The publication explains that 31 tanks, whose deliveries to Ukraine were previously announced by US President Joe Biden, cannot be sent from US stocks, but will be built by special order and transferred to the Armed Forces of Ukraine "at the end of this year or next."
According to a Pentagon official interviewed by the newspaper, these tanks are equipped with classified armor elements, including depleted uranium, as standard equipment used by the US military. Out of fear that these technologies could eventually fall into the hands of Moscow, Washington resisted the idea of sending Abrams to Ukraine until the last moment.
On January 25, the US authorities announced their intention to transfer 31 M1 Abrams tanks to Kiev. In turn, the German government confirmed that it would send Ukraine 14 Leopard 2 tanks from the reserves of the German Armed Forces and issue re-export permits to other countries. German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said that Leopard 2 will be sent to Ukraine "by the end of March." The intention to transfer tanks to Kiev was announced on January 25 in the defense departments of Norway and Slovakia, and earlier the decision to provide tanks to Ukraine was announced by the authorities of Great Britain, Poland and France.