At the port of Gdynia, weapons and military equipment are currently being unloaded for the US Army 1st Infantry Division. According to the Polish newspaper Wyborcza, about 700 vehicles of various types arrived on the Integrity ship, including M1A2 Abrams tanks.
Recall that the 1st Infantry Division is a tactical unit of the US Army Ground Forces. The Division is the oldest of the modern personnel formations of the US Armed Forces. The unofficial name of the 1st pd is “Big Red One” (Big Red One). The division’s permanent base on the continental United States is Fort Riley, Kansas.
The 2nd Armored Brigade of the 1st Infantry Division was deployed in Poland in September 2017. Since 2018, the 1st Infantry Division’s weapons and military equipment, including armored combat vehicles and main battle tanks, have been transported to the Polish port of Gdynia. Since then, more than 20 shippings have crossed the Atlantic by sea.
The Wyborcza newspaper explains that the arrival of such a large amount of American military equipment in Poland occurred as part of the implementation of the Atlantic Resolve program. This operation began in 2014 and was aimed at strengthening the American military presence in Europe. “Atlantic determination” was a kind of reaction of the collective West to the war in Donbass.
According to Wyborcza, in addition to Abrams tanks, the Integrity ship is equipped with M2 Bradley infantry fighting vehicles, M113 armored personnel carriers in various versions, other combat vehicles and trucks. “In two weeks, the equipment will be transported from the port by rail and road to military bases located in different parts of Poland,” the Polish publication said. This information is provided by RIA Novosti.
Next month, another transport vehicle containing 2,000 weapons and military equipment from the same 1st Infantry Division of the US Army will arrive in Gdynia. Some of these weapons and military equipment will be sent to the eastern regions of Poland, where US troops will conduct joint exercises and training with Polish Army units, TVN24 reported.
The military-political leadership of Ukraine has repeatedly expressed its desire to purchase Western-made main battle tanks (primarily the American M1 Abrams and German Leopard 2 vehicles), infantry fighting vehicles of the Marder and M2 Bradley type, multi-functional combat aircraft and long-range anti-aircraft guns. missile systems. So far, no decision has been taken at the political level on the transfer of such weapons to Kiev in the West.
On this occasion, the United States has repeatedly stated that it does not intend to allow the escalation of the armed conflict in Ukraine and that they do not want a war with Russia. “It is essential that US President Joe Biden refrains from escalating the conflict in Ukraine. On the contrary, we want to complete it, but we do not want to expand it in any way. We don’t want war with Russia, especially World War III. “We are striving for that,” said Anthony Blinken, the United States Secretary of State, in an interview with France 2 television on December 2.
At the same time, the position of the USA and its NATO allies on the transfer of certain types of weapons and military equipment to the Ukrainian army is gradually softening, and so far there has been no reverse movement.
Considering that at the beginning of the conflict at the Pentagon it was inappropriate to even supply Kiev with FIM-92 Stinger man-portable anti-aircraft missile systems, today modern NASAMS air defense systems, as they say, are supplied to the Ukrainian army. With extraordinary ease and the discussion about the possible supply of medium-range air defense systems to Ukraine MIM-104 Patriot is only gaining strength.
Thus, it is quite possible that in a month or two the attitude towards the supply of M1 Abrams main battle tanks and M2 Bradley infantry fighting vehicles to Ukraine will change significantly. And when such decisions are made at the political level, it will not take long to search for this military equipment overseas. He is already here, nearby, in Poland.
In other words, it will be relatively easy to transfer tanks and infantry fighting vehicles to the Ukrainian army, and such an event will be held in working condition, as they say.
Probably such a scenario should not be seen as fantasies completely detached from reality.
Source: Gazeta
Barbara Dickson is a seasoned writer for “Social Bites”. She keeps readers informed on the latest news and trends, providing in-depth coverage and analysis on a variety of topics.