The U.K. and Poland Are Donating Modern Tanks to Ukraine, Escalating the War
After months of deliberation and debate, two NATO member countries have made the decision to donate Western-style tanks to Ukraine. The United Kingdom will donate Challenger 2 tanks, while Poland will donate German-made Leopard 2 tanks. The arrangement is meant to give Ukraine the tools it needs to retake lost territory, and encourage other countries—especially Germany—to break the self-imposed restrictions against sending over tanks.
The Financial Times reports that the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Rishi Sunak, has instructed his Minister of Defence to go “further and faster with our support for Ukraine including the provision of tanks.” The only tank available for transfer is the Challenger 2, the main battle tank of the British Army. Meanwhile, Polish President Andrzej Duda promised to send a company’s worth of Leopard 2 tanks. A company of tanks is anywhere from 10 to 14 vehicles.
NATO has sent tanks to Ukraine in the past, but restricted them to obsolete T-72 tanks that the Soviet Union made; it was a natural decision, given that various member states had been keeping them in storage. The tanks are considered easier for Ukrainians to operate, arm, and maintain, as Ukrainian tanks are similar in design, and use the same ammunition. However, Ukraine’s tanks are not as sophisticated as Western-style ones, and still have all of the disadvantages of Russia’s tanks.
Until now, NATO has held back from supplying Western-style tanks. Although superior in several ways, giving Ukraine such tanks was largely considered an escalatory step that many alliance members wanted to avoid. Not only would providing such tanks anger nuclear-armed Russia, but the tanks would require greater direct logistical support, further dragging NATO into the conflict. The American Abrams tank is generally considered to be less practical in Ukraine, for instance, as it uses a gasoline-powered turbine engine, and would require Ukraine to supply the front line with both gas and diesel.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/the-u-k-and-poland-are-donating-modern-tanks-to-ukraine-escalating-the-war/ar-AA16hyhg
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Last edited Fri Jan 13, 2023, 08:57 AM - Edit history (1)
"The American Abrams tank is generally considered to be less practical in Ukraine, for instance, as it uses a gasoline-powered turbine engine, and would require Ukraine to supply the front line with both gas and diesel."
If I'm correct in my recollection, the Abrams power plant is a multi-fuel turbine. It can run on a variety of fuels. This was specifically to assure more effective logistics options.
So, I call bullshit on that bit of the article.
...and here is a specific wiki on the M1 powerplant: [link:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honeywell_AGT1500|
"The engine can use a variety of fuels, including jet fuel, gasoline, diesel and marine diesel."
Looks like the reporter jumped to a conclusion without doing additional research. The only reason the US isn't send M1s is due to the politics of escalation. (IMHO). I bet they read "gas" turbine and immediately thought it was gasoline only.
Granted the performance of the powerplant may be greater using a specific fuel - but that doesn't mean it can still be effective.
I admit that it likely won't run on fire wood. 
