Australia begins loading first batch of M1 Abrams tanks for Ukraine - ABC

Australia has begun the process of transferring to Ukraine American M1A1 Abrams tanks, which were decommissioned from the Australian army.

ABC reported this with reference to its own sources.

According to ABC, on Sunday, May 18, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in the Vatican. Zelenskyy thanked Albanese for Canberra’s decision to begin the transfer of the tanks.

ABC sources confirmed that the day before, Australia began loading the first of 49 Australian Abrams tanks onto a cargo ship.

The broadcaster’s interlocutors emphasized that official Canberra would not discuss their current location or expected date of arrival in Europe.

According to ABC, American officials were dissatisfied with the Australian government’s decision to transfer the Abrams tanks to Ukraine.

"Last year, even before Donald Trump returned to the presidency, we warned the Australians that sending these Abrams tanks would be a difficult task, and that when they finally arrived on the battlefield, it would be difficult for the Ukrainians to maintain them," one of the ABC interlocutors said.

According to information from open sources, as of 2024, the Australian army had 59 M1A1 Abrams tanks in service. They were purchased from the United States in 2006 to replace the German Leopard 1A3.

Recall, in October 2024, Australian Minister of Defense Industry Pat Conroy said that Canberra would transfer 49 Abrams tanks to Kyiv.

As Ukrainian News Agency earlier reported, in December 2024, former US President's National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said that the Abrams tanks that were transferred to Ukraine were not very useful on the battlefield.

In April 2024, the Associated Press wrote that the Ukrainian military were forced to withdraw Abrams tanks from the front because the active use of UAVs did not allow them to be used for their intended purpose.

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