KYLE MIZOKAMI
For the first time, U.S. officials stated last week that advanced, Western-style tanks are “absolutely on the table” for Ukraine. The statement is a reversal of policy that meant mostly defensive weapons would be provided to the beleaguered Eastern European country, now in its seventh month warding off a Russian invasion. Modern tanks, like the American M1 Abrams, would allow Ukraine to take back most (if not all) of its territory lost to Russian forces.
In a discussion on September 19 with Pentagon reporters, a reporter for NPR mentioned that a Ukrainian delegation had visited Washington D.C. and pushed for the U.S. government to provide tanks to Ukraine. A senior defense official replied that the Biden Administration was constantly looking at what Ukraine needed at that particular moment, and also what it would need further down the road. “Tanks are absolutely on the table along with other areas,” the unnamed official said.
U.S. M1A2 Abrams tanks at the Pomorskie training area, Poland, May 2015.JANEK SKARZYNSKI//Getty Images
Unlike the tanks already delivered, the official clearly hinted he or she was referring to Western-style tanks. This is a whole new level of aid, one that could provide Ukraine with some of the most lethal tanks in the world. The Pentagon is only contemplating such an escalation in aid due to Kyiv’s successful counteroffensive into Kharkiv and Kherson, which have freed more than 3,000 square miles of formerly occupied territory.
NATO countries have heaped billions of dollars of aid onto Ukraine, including approximately 300 main battle tanks. These tanks, procured from Poland, the Czech Republic, North Macedonia, and Romania, are patterned on Soviet Cold War tanks, especially the T-72 series of main battle tanks. Ukrainian and Russian tanks are also patterned on the T-72 series, and to a lesser extent, the similar (but gas turbine-powered) T-80. This has allowed Ukrainian tankers and maintenance crews to quickly familiarize themselves with the donated tanks, pressing them into service faster.
How Western Tanks Could Upend the Battlefield
A Ukrainian Army tank in eastern Ukraine, September 2022. Tanks like these are effective, but not as effective as modern NATO tanks, and are more hazardous to the crew in the event of a penetration.JUAN BARRETO//Getty Images
There are some problems with the tanks provided so far. For one, they are largely obsolete by modern standards, though some—like the Polish PT-91 Twardy and the Romanian-provided T-55S—have seen modest improvements in firepower, fire control, sensors, and mobility. Second, the shared engineering DNA means that NATO’s T-72s, like Russia’s frontline T-72, T-80, and T-90 tanks, have the same engineering tradeoff that means a penetration of the turret tends to send it hurtling some distance, with catastrophic consequences for the crew.
Modern NATO-style tanks, which the Pentagon was clearly referring to, are decades more advanced than most tanks on the Ukrainian battlefield (the lone exception being a handful of Russian T-90M tanks.) NATO primarily fields the American M1A2 Abrams series of main battle tanks and German Leopard 2 tanks. These tanks include 120-millimeter main guns; advanced fire control and passive infrared night vision; and better engines, transmissions, and suspension systems. NATO tanks are faster, much more efficient killers than Ukraine’s existing tanks.
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