What is known about long-awaited US Abrams tanks coming to Ukraine

The long-awaited American M1 Abrams tanks are to arrive in Ukraine next week, which comes at a crucial time for Kyiv’s forces in the fight against the Russian offence.

As reported by Al Jazeera, US President Joe Biden has announced that the first US-made Abrams tanks will be delivered to Ukraine next week, a crucial delivery at a time when Ukrainian forces are engaged in brutal fighting on the front lines with Russia after months of a slow-moving counteroffensive.

Biden made the announcement on September 21 after meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Washington DC, where the US unveiled a new $325 million military aid package for Ukraine.

"Next week, the first US Abrams tanks will be delivered in Ukraine", Biden said at the White House, alongside Zelenskyy, who was making his second visit to the US since the Russian invasion in February 2022.

This is what we know about the latest US military aid and the significance of the US army’s top tank for Ukrainian forces:

• The M1 Abrams tank is considered a state-of-the-art weapon and more powerful than many Soviet-era tanks currently operated by Russian and Ukrainian forces.

• Washington originally promised that 31 Abrams battle tanks would be delivered to Kyiv at the start of the year.A delivery date for the Abrams was then adjusted with the Pentagon speaking of a date later in the year.

• Washington’s decision to provide Abrams tanks to Ukraine represented a considerable U-turn as US defence officials had repeatedly said that the Abrams were ill-suited for Kyiv’s forces due to the complexity of logistics to keep them supplied with parts, fuel and ammunition, and the complex nature of their operation.

• Sydney Freedberg, a contributing editor of the digital magazine Breaking Defence, told Al Jazeera earlier this year that because Abrams tanks are used significantly less across Europe, Ukraine may struggle to cope with logistic infrastructure such as obtaining spare parts, warehousing and general maintenance. The four-person tank is also complex to operate.