The US-made and supplied Abrams tanks will be sent from Australia to Ukraine under a $245 million military aid package to strengthen the war-torn country's fight against Russian aggression.
ABC News report More than a year after Kiev first expressed interest in its aging M1A1 fleet, and months after Australia rejected a request for a donation of parked Taipan helicopters, the Labor government is now offering heavy battlefield armor. It has been confirmed that 49 units will be donated.
Defense Industry Minister Pat Conroy, who is attending the NATO Defense Ministers' Meeting in Brussels this week, is expected to brief the Ukrainian side directly on the latest support measures.
“We will fight side by side with Ukraine in the fight against Russia's illegal aggression,” Conroy said while in London with British government officials ahead of a visit to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).
File/Air Mobility Operators from No. 23 Squadron, Royal Australian Air Force, guide a highly qualified Bushmaster Protected Mobility Vehicle bound for Ukraine to a C-17A Globemaster III aircraft at RAF Amberley in Queensland. (Australian Defense Force)
“These tanks will provide more firepower and maneuverability to the Ukrainian Armed Forces and complement our partners' support for Ukrainian armored brigades. Australia has been steadfast in our support of Ukraine.”
“As we face a challenging geostrategic environment, it is important that we continue to work with partners around the world to deter aggression and coercion and protect the rules-based global order.”
In recent weeks in Australia received This is the first of 75 new M1A2 tanks that will eventually replace the Army's fleet of 59 older M1A1 vehicles that have never been used in combat, ABC reports. The book points out.
Australia cannot transfer its aging Abrams to a “third country” without US permission under the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR), even though the US government sent 31 of its M1A1 tanks to Ukraine last year. It was necessary.
Australia previously donated 28 larger M113 armored personnel carriers to Ukraine. mini tank design Dating back to the Vietnam era, it also has six M777 towed howitzers.
As reported by Breitbart News, 30 Australian-designed and manufactured Bushmaster armored vehicles were also sent at a direct request from Kiev.
