Quote:
Originally Posted by kato13
Apparently due to tech export restrictions the US M1 will need to be new builds, delaying them until 2024. I have read that the Australians have retired essentially the same versions (no advanced armor package) as they are getting the newest versions as part of our unified defense against China.
Has there been any talk of Australia donating these lower tech units to the cause? I know the US is trusting Australians with the holy grail of our tech (nuclear sub stuff), so lets do this swap out early and get the M1A1a moving to Europe.
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Ukraine is allegedly (according to multiple anonymous sources) being provided with M1A2 (exact version unclear, but AFAIK only SEP v3 is currently in production, while older ones could be pulled out of mothballs). Army leadership said yesterday they're providing civilian leadership with a number of options on how to deliver those, since Lima has around 2.5 years of production backlog between Taiwan and (especially) Poland at current rates. I expect one option will be diverting new export builds, while another option will be taking old turrets and replacing the DU armor inserts with the FMS armor inserts. There might be other options as well, but those are the first two to come to mind.