- Australia said on Wednesday that it will transfer 49 M1 Abrams tanks to Ukraine.
- The US sent Ukraine 31 Abrams last year.
- These top tanks have seen combat but are vulnerable to Russian threats, including drones.
Australia plans to send Ukraine a large batch of M1A1 Abrams tanks, officials confirmed on Wednesday, in a move that will more than double the size of Kyiv's existing inventory.
Australia's Defense Industry Minister Pat Conroy said Canberra will send 49 American-made Abrams tanks that were headed for retirement to Ukraine as part of a major security assistance package worth around $164 million, according to multiple reports.
The planned transfer will significantly expand Ukraine's arsenal of Western-provided armored vehicles and help replace the Abrams lost in combat.
The US sent Ukraine 31 Abrams last year, meaning Kyiv will have received 80 once Australia completes deliveries. The M1A1 is an older variant of the powerful main battle tank first built in the 1970s to fight the Soviets.
Ukraine has used the highly capable Abrams in combat, but the limited number has restrained the impact, with Ukraine often turning to its more plentiful Bradley fighting vehicles.
Additionally, these tanks are vulnerable to some of the battlefield threats that have challenged other armored vehicles, including small drones loaded with explosives. Some estimates suggest that Kyiv's forces have lost at least 16 of these tanks while fighting Russia, though that is unconfirmed.
The exploding drone threat has been a particularly menacing problem for armored vehicles in Ukraine, which has outfitted some of its tanks — including the Abrams — with cage-like netting for an added layer of protection against inbound munitions.
The planned transfer of Abrams tanks marks a reversal for the Australian government, which said earlier this year that such a move is "not on the agenda." Several countries, including the US, have ended up walking back statements saying that certain weapons systems were off-limits for Ukraine.
"These tanks will deliver more firepower and mobility to the Ukrainian Armed Forces and complement the support provided by our partners for Ukraine's armored brigades," Conroy told reporters on Wednesday during a visit to London, per the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
A formal announcement of the transfer is expected at the NATO Defense Ministerial meetings later this week.
Vasyl Myroshnychenko, the Ukrainian ambassador to Australia, said that the Abrams tanks will be an "essential part" of Kyiv's land defenses.
"We have already been operating some of those tanks, which we've been provided by the Americans in the past, so we already have teams of people who know how to use that equipment," Myroshnychenko told ABC.
"The armor they have, the missiles that they also use, will be of huge help to Ukrainians on the battlefield, especially where we build those defense lines," he added.
Since the Abrams are American-made tanks, Australia had to get the US to sign off on the transfer. Canberra has already received some of the newer M1A2 variants, which were slated to replace the aging M1A1s that are now going to Ukraine.