The tank unit of the 425th Assault Regiment Skala has received M1 Abrams tanks, becoming the second user of these vehicles in the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
The announcement was published on the page of the 425th Regiment.
The unit’s press service announced the reinforcement with the new type of equipment using third-party footage of tanks from the 47th Mechanized Brigade Magura, which until recently was the only user of the tanks in the country.
Presumably, the Skaly tank unit was equipped with Australian M1A1 Abrams, the first batch of which arrived in Ukraine in late July. Australia has pledged to provide a 49-vehicle tank battalion.
The Australian vehicles slightly differ from the baseline vehicles, as they have been upgraded to the M1A1 AIM SA version and received a number of regional modifications to meet customer requirements.
These vehicles have a new armor package without depleted uranium. The AIM SA electronics package includes a digital fire control system, thermal imaging and communications equipment better than that of the basic M1A1, as well as a satellite navigation system.
In addition, the gas turbine engines of the Australian tanks have been reconfigured to use diesel fuel instead of JP-8 aviation kerosene, which is standard for the US Army. This should simplify logistics for the Ukrainian army, whose armored vehicles are also standardized for diesel.
In all other respects, these tanks are similar to other Abrams in the Ukrainian army. It is possible that upon arrival in the country, they will be retrofitted with anti-drone grids, electronic warfare equipment and additional dynamic protection elements, as has already been done with other armored vehicles.
It should be recalled that the tank unit of the 425th Assault Regiment was created earlier this year and received modernized Leopard 1A5 tanks.
In addition, even under the battalion’s regular structure, Skala’s fighters were among the first to receive American M2 Bradley infantry fighting vehicles. They are complemented by M113 tracked armored personnel carriers and the rather rare M1117 wheeled armored vehicles.
In April, Militarnyi also reported that the regiment’s artillerymen received 155 mm M109 self-propelled tracked howitzers.
Earlier, Skala was the first in the Defense Forces to deploy a motorcycle company designed to quickly take up positions during assault operations.
