I'd be willing to bet that we've been training Ukrainian tankers on the M1-Abrams for months now, and that we might see a "decision" to send some of those - fitting with the timeline of the end of training for tank/maintenance crews. I read yesterday that the Biden Administration has been rethinking their stance on (not) sending the M1-Abrams...and this also would fit that timeline (about a year of total training). Read into this what you will.
Edit to add: From the WSJ: US Leans Towards Providing Abrams Tanks To Ukraine
From Daily Kos, on that article:
On Tuesday morning, The Wall Street Journal is reporting that the United States is “leaning” toward sending M1A2 main battle tanks Abrams tanks to Ukraine, with an announcement expected this week.
The announcement would reportedly come as part of a deal in which Germany would also send its Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine and would include Germany approving the release of Leopard tanks to be sent by other nations. The deal would break the deadlock created when Germany refused to release the Leopard tanks even after the U.K. announced that it was providing a company of its Challenger 2 main battle tanks to Ukraine.
The U.S. has previously been resistant to the idea of sending the Abrams, for a long series of reasons, including the difficulties in supporting the tank and its impact of Ukraine’s already burdened logistics. Pentagon officials have repeatedly stated that they feel the M1A2 isn’t well suited to Ukraine, for reasons ranging from the fuel to the long time needed to train on the vehicles to the lack of any nearby facilities to deal with major repairs.
However, Biden reportedly shifted his position following a Jan. 17 call to German Chancellor Olaf Scholz. If sending the Abrams is the only way to break through the current roadblock, Biden appears ready to take that step.
Emphasis mine. The
M1A2 is the most up-to-date version of the Abrams tank (previous iterations being the M1, and M1-A1).
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