In a major victory for all supporters of Ukraine, the government is set to announce it will gift 49 Abrams main battle tanks to help fight back against Russia’s illegal and immoral invasion. It is expected that Minister for Defence Industry and Capability Delivery, Pat Conroy, will make the offer to his Ukrainian counterparts at a NATO meeting in Brussels.
The government says that the package is worth $245 million, but more importantly will add to the Armed Forces of Ukraine’s firepower and mobility and complement partners’ support for Ukraine’s armoured brigades. It is possible that some of the tanks will require upgrades before they are transferred – or they could be cannibalised to support the majority of the vehicles being donated. The government is open to either solution and will discuss the best way forward with Kyiv.
Minister Conroy said:
“We stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Ukraine in their fight against Russia’s illegal invasion.
“These tanks will deliver more firepower and mobility to the Ukrainian Armed Forces, and complement the support provided by our partners for Ukraine.
“As we face a challenging geostrategic environment, it is important that we continue to work together with our partners around the world to deter aggression and coercion and protect the global rules-based order.”
Australia is in the process of purchasing 75 refurbished newer M1A2s and retired the existing fleet in July. Army will keep a small number of the older model Abrams for training and transition purposes.
Even though the original 59 ex-US Marine Corps M1A1s were purchased in 2004, they are still a formidable weapon with a 120mm main gun able to destroy all Russian tanks at a distance of at least a kilometre – and in most circumstances well beyond that.
They are well protected with extremely thick armour – though as experience with other allied MBTs used by Ukraine has shown, they have some vulnerability to top-down drone attacks. Nevertheless, they will make an important contribution to Ukraine’s combat power, even if they are initially used in a defensive role.
It also sends an important signal to Moscow that Ukraine’s allies – no matter how distant – are continuing to help in meaningful ways.
The Australian Army fact sheet states:
General characteristics
| Weight | 62000kg |
| Length | 9.83m |
| Width | 3.65m |
| Height | 2.89m |
| Crew | Four – commander, gunner, loader and driver |
Performance
| Power plant | Gas turbine engine 1119 kilowatts |
| Speed | More than 60km per hour (standard terrain) More than 40km per hour (cross-country) |
| Operational range | More than 400km |
| Smoke grenade system | 66 millimetre Launcher Grenade M250 |
| Armament | 120 millimetre M256 smooth bore cannon 12.7 millimetre M2HB QCB machine gun 2 x 7.62 millimetre MAG58 machine gun |
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Pure BS at our expense, the Abram’s are a flop now? Let alone the Rasputza wet
Virtue signalling at best US would have to agree also
Russia is winning, the best Ukraine can hope for is an armistice in place
Stupid decision
I completely disagree – firstly there is very little expense involved; secondly climatic conditions in Ukraine affect all vehicles on both sides for a relatively short period of time. My own view is that Russia is throwing everything at this in the hope that Donald Trump will win on November 5. If this doesn’t happen – and with Russia suffering huge losses – there is some hope that Putin will have to change his attitude.
Fascinating how Army can muster the logistics to shift 49 of these 62 ton drone magnets to Ukraine but NOT 47 medevac configured Taipans that weigh a paltry 6.2 ton dry.
Indeed.
Its a shame this decision took so long too, I seem to recall Marles lack of interest in this as far back as February.
I wonder of the lack of coal shipments to Ukraine is premised on ideology too with the government’s commitment to renewable energy?.
Personally, I’d send them all of the 46 F/A-18 HUG fighters in storage as a back-up to the NATO F-16’s.
As a taxpayer, I’d favour a training programme here for the Ukrainians to get the Hornets operational and usable.
Good idea. I didn’t realise some of the Hornets were being stored.
Why should these tanks be donated to the Ukraine? They should be kept here in Australia and refurbished/ upgraded whatever for ourselves. Some may say we don’t have that industrial capability, I don’t know if that is the case. If so, then Australia needs to attain that capability and apply it. Other nations store their older equipment in reserve. And whilst we’re at it, the MRH90 Taipans, they seem like a perfectly good helicopter scrapped for spurious reasons. Defence not carrying out Airworthiness Directives, etc (tail rotor and engines), declining Airbus upgrades, poor maintenance program logistics and dare I say, crew training issues when one reads the Jervis Bay crash investigation report. Total confusion in the cockpit, when a well drilled and current pilot crew should have been expecting the possibility of such an occurrence and responded to the issue in a disciplined manner. The Talisman Sabre 23 crash is simply a helicopter being flown into the water at night. Things seem to be unusually quite re: the finding for this particular accident. I’d love to know how much flying time the Taipan pilots had been getting leading up to both these accidents.
Thanks Ian – I agree with most of your points. I’m happy for the M1A1s to go to Ukraine because: a) the Army doesn’t want them; and b) I think it’s in Australia’s interest to help out as much as possible. About 10 years ago Army had a consultation process with Australian industry to see if the Abrams upgrade from the A1 configuration to A2 could be done locally. A lot of companies were very enthusiastic but then for reasons that are unclear Army changed their mind and decided to have it all done in the US via FMS – and here we are today. Regarding Taipans – you are correct about the Jervis Bay ditching and the Talisman Sabre fatal crash.
Yet to be delivered.
Sometime near the end of 2025 apparently but Marles is unable to say.
Unclear if they are being refurnished prior to delivery or it’s just another ADF/DoD cluster