M1A1 Abrams tanks will be given to Ukraine 

The United States confirmed that it will deliver Abrams tanks to Ukraine by autumn of this year, which is a lot faster than initially thought.  The Pentagon also announced on Tuesday that Patriot air defenses will be dispatched on an “expedited timeline.”

Following discussions with Kyiv, Washington “made the decision to provide the M1A1 variant of the Abrams tank,” Press Secretary Brigadier General Pat Ryder told the media.

This “will enable us to significantly expedite delivery timelines and deliver this important capability to Ukraine by the fall of this year.”

Ryder said the tanks would offer Ukraine “a very similar capability to the M1A2” that Washington had originally intended to provide.  Ryder didn’t go into specifics about the differences between the two types of tanks.

Ryder said that the delivery of M1A2’s was initially thought to take about a year, which would have them arriving at some point in 2024.

Ukraine will also receive advanced Patriot air defenses sooner than originally anticipated.

“We’re confident that we’ll be able to get the Patriots there on an expedited timeline,” Ryder said, noting that Ukrainians being trained on the system “went faster than expected, just given their propensity and their eagerness to do the training.”

The United States have continued to campaign for international support for Ukraine, rapidly forming an alliance to support Kyiv after Russia invaded in February 2022 and coordinating aid from several nations.