Australia has written off its old M1A1 Abrams tanks, which means Ukraine can get them

The Australian army is writing off the last available M1A1 Abrams tanks, which Ukraine may be able to get, as it has recently publicly requested them.

Here's What We Know

The Australian Ministry of Defence has reported that the last of the M1A1 Abrams tanks was written off at the end of July this year. They were in service with the 2/14th Light Cavalry Regiment and were stationed at a base in Brisbane.

The Australian government will replace the old M1A1s with the newest M1A2 SEPv3s ordered from the United States, which will be delivered in 2025.

It is worth noting that six months ago, the Australian army had 59 M1A1 Abrams tanks, which are considered obsolete now. The Ukrainian side has filed several public requests for the possible transfer of equipment to the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

Australia's response to the request was rather vague. One of the arguments is that the decommissioned tanks will still need to be transferred to the United States for repairs, so that they can be transferred to Ukraine. Another argument is that they want to follow a certain orderly process, according to which new tanks will arrive from the US first, and only then can the old Abrams be written off.

However, it is likely that the tanks will still be delivered to the Ukrainian Armed Forces, the only question is: when?

Source: Janes