As France commits light tanks, President Biden reveals that Bradley fighting vehicles are being considered for supply to Kiev.
The United States and its allies are finally prepared to deploy a range of armoured fighting vehicles to Ukraine after months of defying Kyiv's requests for tanks to combat increasingly entrenched Russian forces along the extensive southern and eastern fronts.
President Biden responded in the positive when asked if the delivery of Bradley Fighting Vehicles to Ukraine was a possibility on Wednesday. Bradleys might be included in a package of weapons that will be released as early as this week, according to a senior administration official.
France announced earlier on Wednesday that it will give Ukraine an undefined number of light tanks.
Another significant step in the ongoing delivery of cutting-edge equipment to Ukrainian forces, including heavy artillery and long-range precision rocket launchers, is the first shipment of Western mobile armour. It happens only a few weeks after the Biden administration declared it would provide Kyiv a Patriot missile battery, the most advanced air defence weapon in the American arsenal, to fend off waves of Russian missile and drone attacks on energy and civilian infrastructure far from the front lines.
That front, which runs for hundreds of miles along a north-south axis in the country's eastern region, is where the Ukrainian military is engaged in a tough battle against Russian ground forces in an effort to make small but significant gains. According to American officials, the Ukrainians must be able to engage the enemy and advance while under fire with combined arms actions using armoured vehicles.
According to a second senior administration source, the United States believes that the fighting will continue along that line "for the foreseeable future," with little hope that it will abate during the winter. The allies are already moving hundreds of Ukrainian soldiers off the front lines for joint manoeuvre training in Europe, a change from training only small groups to use specialised weapons systems.
However, up until this point, Kyiv has been rejected by Ukraine's allies, who claim that the Western armour is ineffective due to its logistical complexity.
Germany has consistently refused Ukrainian demands for its Leopard 2 main battle tanks and Marder infantry fighting vehicles, mostly on the grounds that it did not want to be the first to supply such weapons.
The West's reluctance to deploy modern weapons has mostly been due to a desire to avoid inciting Russia to intensify the conflict. The second administration source claimed that as the circumstances on the battlefield "developed," decisions to transfer weaponry like as HIMARS, the U.S. precision rocket launchers that were originally transferred last summer, were made.
Every step forward in arming Ukraine has, as was to be expected, been met with accusations from Russian President Vladimir Putin that NATO is waging war against his country. Administration officials argue that Moscow's violence, particularly its strikes on civilians, is to blame for the West's inclination toward progress.
Let's be really clear about this, the second official remarked fiercely. Mr. Putin is fighting "basically for [Russia's] security," despite what he may pretend, and everyone is aware that this is "a lot of BS." Russia is waging an aggressive campaign against Ukraine.
This official stated, "We are and will continue to give them with the kind of systems to defend themselves.
After making an urgent request for tanks during a brief visit to Washington late last month, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky decided to send armoured combat vehicles just a few weeks later. Zelensky praised the French announcement as "a clear signal to all our other partners: There is no rational reason why Ukraine has not yet been supplied with Western-style tanks.... We must put an end to the Russian aggression this year exactly, and not postpone any of the defensive capabilities that can speed up the defeat of the terrorist state" in his nightly address to the Ukrainian people on Wednesday.
Modern Western tanks and armoured vehicles are just one of these crucial skills, according to Zelensky.
The first official, one of several who spoke on the condition of anonymity regarding the delicate subject, stated that the administration continues to rule out sending even larger Abrams battle tanks, which weigh 55 tonnes and rely on a turbine engine that guzzles gasoline at a severe rate. They also frequently break down and demand advanced maintenance skills.
As a result of the battle tanks' immense weight, then-President Trump was convinced against including them in the 2019 July Fourth celebration in Washington because to concerns that their steel-plate tracks might demolish the city's streets. The Bradleys flanked Trump for his Independence Day speech while the Abrams eventually remained in a "static exhibition" on rail cars close to Anacostia Park.
Although not strictly a tank, the Bradley would provide a substantial improvement for the ground troops of Ukraine. It has tank-like tracks, carries a three-person crew, and has space for up to six more soldiers inside. It weighs roughly 28 tonnes. Sending an undisclosed number of the vehicles to Ukraine would not reduce U.S. inventories, which number in the thousands.
The 120mm "primary gun" cannon mounted on an Abrams is more powerful than the Bradley, which is named after Gen. Omar Bradley, a top American commander during World War II. However, it is armed with a variety of armaments, including as a 25mm chain cannon and an M240 machine gun, as well as substantial armour. Fast enough to keep up with the Abrams in American combat forces, it can move up to 35 mph.
Following a phone chat between Zelensky and French President Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday, France confirmed its intention to provide AMX-10 RC light tanks built in France. How many tanks would be shipped and when they would arrive were not immediately known.
The French military has used wheeled vehicles since 1981, but they are gradually being phased out in favour of a more modern technology. Although its 105mm cannon is smaller than many tanks' and is primarily employed for reconnaissance and troop transport, the vehicle is thought to be extremely agile and manoeuvrable.
Also on Wednesday, Poland agreed to pay $1.4 billion to replace more than 300 Soviet-era tanks and armoured personnel carriers that were supplied to Ukraine last summer with a second batch of American Abrams tanks.
Along with their current stock of Soviet-era vehicles, Ukrainian forces have also gained hundreds of captured or abandoned Russian tanks, infantry fighting vehicles, and armoured personnel carriers. But it has been difficult to find both ammo and spare parts.
