Romania’s military command is considering the possibility of acquiring American Abrams tanks and hopes that the country’s parliament will approve these intentions. There is talk of buying 54 armored vehicles from the United States.
The agreement will be executed at the intergovernmental level, which will allow the Romanian side to save on the purchase. The specific modification of the acquired equipment is not yet known.
Along with this, Bucharest intends to purchase other types of weapons: tracked infantry fighting vehicles, howitzers, short and ultra-short range air defense systems and two types of missiles for F-16 fighters.
It is possible that Romania chose to buy the Abrams, because in case of acquiring the German Leopards, some of these tanks may have to be sent to Ukraine. Along with this, the poor condition of these armored vehicles in other European countries, caused by the high cost of maintenance and the lack of spare parts, is also of some importance.
Earlier in Washington it was reported that the delivery of Abrams to Ukraine was postponed from this year to the spring or summer of 2024. At the same time, we are talking about sending tanks of the M1A1 modification to help the Armed Forces of Ukraine, and not from the M1A2 version.
Photos used: US National Archives
