The US Department of Defence will begin its training programme to teach Ukrainian service members to operate M1A1 Abrams tanks next week, Spokesperson Pat Ryder told Voice of America.
Around 250 Ukrainian military members will arrive in Germany later this week to receive training, a senior US official told the media outlet on the condition of anonymity.
The training programme is expected to take around ten weeks. It will fully cover the tank operation, manoeuvring in a combined-arms battle, and its technical maintenance, VOA was told.
The course will follow the same structure that the US offered to Ukrainian soldiers to learn Bradley and Stryker armoured vehicles that Kyiv received in early 2023.
On Tuesday, the Pentagon announced that “the training, and any eventual transfer of F-16 aircraft to Ukraine is meant to support mid- and long-term defence needs” rather than providing short-term assistance for Ukraine’s long-awaited counter-offensive.