US to accelerate delivery of Abrams tanks to Ukraine, those may arrive as soon as this fall – media

The Pentagon plans to speed up the delivery of Abrams tanks to Ukraine, a US official and a source familiar with the situation said, providing them as soon as this fall, Reuters reports. The US pledged to send 31 advanced Abrams M1A2s  tanks to Ukraine. According to the Washington Post sources, the US was going to build new tanks, without the depleted uranium armor, for delivery late this year or next.

• According to a congressional aide briefed, the new plan speeds up delivery by about a year, Reuters says.
• A Pentagon spokesman said it would take "months."
• According to CNN, White House spokesperson John Kirby said on MSNBC, "There's some changes that you can make to the process to sort of speed that up."

Referring to two US officials, CNN reports that the US will dramatically accelerate the shipment time of Abrams tanks to Ukraine by sending older M1A1 models instead of the more modern version of the tank. A refurbished older model that can be ready faster to get to the war zone in eight to 10 months, US officials told The Associated Press. Read also:

• Not only Abrams: what else the US provides in its biggest-yet aid packages
• US to send 31 Abrams tanks to Ukraine – Biden
• US leaning toward sending a significant number of Abrams tanks to Ukraine – WSJ sources (updated)