Following confirmation of the delivery of the first American M1A1 Abrams tanks to the Ukrainian Army on September 25, the means by which the new vehicles will be operated has been widely discussed. Ukrainian, Western and Russian sources have widely predicted that, following major losses among American supplied Bradley fighting vehicles, German Leopard 1 and Leopard 2 tanks, the British Challenger 2 tanks, Ukraine will hold its Abrams tanks back from frontline engagements. Head of the Ukrainian Army’s Main Intelligence Directorate Kirill Budanov provided a strong indication of this when he warned a week before the first Abrams tanks arrived that the vehicles may not last long in combat unless reserved for use in very specific kinds of operations.
He highlighted that if the American tanks were deployed “on the front line and just in a combined arms fight, they will not live very long on the battlefield.” Beyond the question of what operations the tanks will participate in, it has been less widely considered which personnel will operate Ukraine’s new American vehicles, with the circumstances of the deliveries and the preceding use of Ukrainian armour indicating that foreign contractors, and possibly even active duty personnel from NATO militaries, may play major roles.