Australia’s cooperation and support for the Armed Forces of Ukraine has reached a new milestone with the confirmation of the transfer of all 49 M1A1 Abrams tanks that had been pledged. The information was confirmed by the Australian government itself on December 19, marking a new precedent in the relationship between the two countries, whose first major milestone was the transfer, in April 2022—just weeks after the start of the Russian invasion—of a batch of Bushmaster armored vehicles.
Since the early months of the conflict, Australia has increasingly become an important supporter of the Ukrainian Armed Forces through the provision of various aid packages, which to date have reached a total value of AUD 1.7 billion.
Nevertheless, and without a doubt, the most significant donation and transfer carried out so far has been that of a total of 49 M1A1 Abrams tanks, which were recently withdrawn from service by the Australian Army. This is due to the force being in the midst of incorporating its more modern M1A2 Abrams SEPv3 tanks, acquired from the United States, having received the first batch during the past month of July.
The confirmation of the completion of the M1A1 Abrams deliveries is undoubtedly good news for the Ukrainian Ground Forces, which already operated M1A1 SA tanks provided directly by the United States. However, as has occurred with other Western models deployed in combat, the Ukrainian Abrams fleet has suffered combat attrition, with units listed as out of service, destroyed, or captured by Russian forces.
In this regard, it should be recalled that the transfer process of the Australian M1A1 Abrams to Ukraine began in May, alongside the training and instruction of Ukrainian crews, with confirmation that the majority of the tanks had arrived by July. Additionally, Australia’s Department of Defence has confirmed that the transferred Abrams tanks are already being deployed in operations.
Finally, with the transfer of the tanks now completed and additional aid packages being listed, various options and possibilities are being evaluated regarding the provision of further equipment being retired from service by the Australian Defence Force.
In particular, over recent weeks there has been growing speculation regarding the possibility that Australia could transfer its fleet of Tiger attack helicopters, consisting of 22 aircraft, which is currently in the process of being replaced by the new AH-64E Apache. Ukrainian interest is not new, as Kyiv has been exploring the possibility of such a transfer in order to incorporate another attack platform, which could potentially be employed to neutralize Russian drones thanks to the combination of air-to-air missiles and guided rockets it can deploy.
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