US media say President Joe Biden is preparing to hand over the Abrams to Ukraine. But Hammelburg has his doubts about that. Not because Americans don’t want it, but because it’s simply unworkable. The Abrams tank is a very complicated piece of equipment that practically requires a pilot’s license to operate. A complicated and long training.’
Hammelburg also calls it an impractical weapon for the battlefield in Ukraine, and this has everything to do with the propulsion of the American tank. “That’s from a gas turbine, sort of like an aircraft engine, and it works best on kerosene,” he says. And in huge quantities. The thing guzzles fuel. Go look for large quantities of kerosene in Ukraine, you won’t succeed.’ Diesel could be an alternative, according to Hammelburg, but again the quantities are not sustainable, he thinks.
Do not go
Think that then the delivery of American tanks will not take place at all. “The political intention of the Americans, however, was quite good,” she concludes. “Because they initially said it wasn’t talked about, but now Biden has come back to it. He’s basically saying, “Scholz wanted a commitment, and then he got it.”