In a major boost to Ukraine’s defences, Australia is donating 49 Abrams battle tanks, to help repel Russian invaders.
The package, worth $245 million dollars, will deliver more firepower and mobility to the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
“We stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Ukraine in their fight against Russian aggression,” Defence Industry Minister Pat Conroy said.
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“We’re proud to be part of a global effort to say no to their illegal invasion.”
The backbone of the Australian Army for decades, the M1A1 tanks were retired in July and are being replaced with a newer M1A2 fleet.
Despite being at the end of their lives, the old American-made armoured fighting vehicles are still highly effective and will be put to immediate use by the Ukrainians, who have been pleading for them for months.
“We’ve been asking for military equipment that Australia no longer needs and I’m very grateful to Australia for making this contribution,” Ukraine’s Ambassador to Australia Vasyl Myroshnychenko said.
Conroy confirmed that U.S. arms regulations meant permission had to be sought before the donation could be made.
The announcement brings Australia’s overall support to Ukraine to $1.5 billion and puts to bed speculation the tanks would meet the same fate as Australia’s Taipan helicopters, which were chopped up and buried.
“They are an essential part of land defence and they will be able to help us improve our military capabilities to fight off the Russians who have come to Ukraine to occupy the country and destroy the country,” Myroshnychenko said.
Due to their age, the government says some of the tanks will have to be restored before being delivered, or they could arrive quicker if used for spare parts, leaving the decision up to Ukraine.
“We’ve been using some of those types of tanks in the past provided by the Americans so we already have people who have been trained how to use those tanks,” Myroshnychenko said.
Ukraine is now hoping Australia will join international efforts to de-mine large parts of the country, a project that is expected to take generations to complete.
“We will continue prioritising Ukraine as a recipient of Australian Defence Force material and we’ll keep working with Ukraine to make sure this assistance we provide is safe, useable and making a difference,“ Conroy said.