Australia plans to transfer its decommissioned Abrams tanks to Ukraine

Ukraine will soon be able to use decommissioned Australian Abrams battle tanks in the war against Russia. Source: The Sydney Morning Herald Details: The newspaper reports that the Australian government, together with the administration of US President Joe Biden, is working on a plan to send American-made Abrams M1A1 tanks to Ukraine.

At the same time, Australian Defence Minister Richard Marles says that there are a number of opportunities that they are considering with the Ukrainian government.

Sources in the Australian government said that Marles is studying how to ship the tanks in line with US defence export regulations. At the same time, Australia had previously ruled out the possibility of providing this equipment to Kyiv.

In July, Australia reportedly retired 59 Abrams M1A1 tanks that had never been used in combat and are now being replaced with newer models. Purchased for AU£550 million (about US£340 million) in 2004, these combat vehicles are equipped with cannons and machine guns.

Michael Shoebridge, a former senior Australian defence official, commented on the situation: "These tanks are still in good shape. The Ukrainians are fighting a war for national survival so we should get them there as soon as we can." Earlier, Ukraine made an official request to Australia to join the US, the UK, Poland and Germany in providing tanks to defend against Russian aggression.

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