Fears Trump's freeze on military aid for Ukraine may delay Australian Abrams tanks
Reports suggest a large delivery of Australian Abrams tanks to Ukraine could be stalled – a casualty of Donald Trump's recent freeze on military aid shipments.
Canberra agreed to send 49 retired M1A1 Abrams to Kyiv last year.
To date, Australia has provided around $1.3bn in military assistance to Ukraine and has also provided Kyiv with 120 Bushmaster protected mobility vehicles, which were used extensively by Ukrainian forces during the incursion into Russia's Kursk region last August.
But Donald Trump's recent freeze on aid shipments to Ukraine has led to disruption at a key logistics hub at Rzeszów-Jasionka airport in Poland.
It is estimated that more than 80% of Western military donations to Ukraine have been transferred via the so-called Poland Logistics, or POLLOG, hub in Rzeszów.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says there are "logistics challenges" in delivering the tanks.
"The government is doing everything that we can to provide support in an expedited way, but we know that there are logistics challenges.
"This is a war going on," he told reporters.
Opposition leaders in Australia have criticised the Albanese government for not delivering the tanks sooner.
The Australian Defence Force says the transfer is "ongoing" and has promised the US-built tanks will be delivered "at the earliest opportunity".
Retired Army Major General Mick Ryan told the Australian broadcaster ABC News that the gifted tanks are desperately needed.
"If the US military system isn't able to move these things in a timely fashion, we should be looking at working with our Polish friends or even private contractors – obviously considering security issues, to get these things to Ukraine as soon as we possibly can," he said.
Last week, Poland's Minister of National Defence Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz said operations at Rzeszów had returned to normal after a week-long disruption.
But reports suggest that several US military logistics units were withdrawn from the facility after Donald Trump's decision to cut the flow of aid.
Donald Trump ordered a pausing of all US military aid shipments to Ukraine earlier this month but lifted the ban a week later.
The 68-tonne Abrams main battle tank has been in service since 1980 and first saw combat during the 1991 Gulf War.
The M1A1 carries a formidable 120mm smoothbore cannon and can fire a variety of ammunition, including anti-tank, high explosive and armour-piercing rounds.
President Biden sent 31 Abrams to Ukraine in September 2023, and these have seen extensive combat with the elite 47th Mechanised Brigade.
The Ukrainian military has adapted them, fitting the Abrams with anti-drone cages plus additional Soviet-designed Kontakt-1 reactive armour to the upper and lower frontal parts of the tank.
However, it is thought that around 20 of Ukraine's Abrams have now been captured, damaged, or destroyed, with the Trump administration unlikely to send any more.
Ukraine's Minister of Defence, Rustem Umerov, is expected to visit Canberra in the coming weeks to discuss Australia's continuing support for Ukraine.
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