Washington Negotiating Purchase of Ukrainian Tanks, Says U.S. Official

Russia Today | Sep 7, 2001

[Sawdring]

KIEV, Sep 7, 2001 -- (Agence France Presse) Washington is currently negotiating with Kiev to buy Ukrainian tanks, although both countries have not reached an agreement yet, the U.S. embassy said Thursday, quoting a senior U.S. defense official.

"Discussions continue but at this point we have not reached a conclusion," a U.S. defense official who recently visited Ukraine, Edward Pusey, said as quoted by the embassy.

He made no other comments on the negotiations, the embassy said.

Pusey visited Kiev last week for U.S.-Ukrainian talks on defense cooperation.

The Ukrainian daily Segodnya reported Thursday that talks on U.S. arms purchases have been going on for two years.

The United States is contemplating buying Ukrainian tanks for army anti-tank training programs.

Ukraine has over 4,000 tanks, including the T-64, T-72, T-80 and T-84, a Ukrainian defense ministry spokesman said.

The T-84, which was built in accordance with NATO norms, which is equipped with a 120 millimeter cannon and can reach a speed of 60 kilometers (37 miles) per hour, is often considered by military analysts to be the best Ukrainian tank.

Kiev estimates its arms sales will grow by up to eight percent this year.

Ukraine is currently competing with Germany's Krauss Maffei company and the U.S. General Dynamics to win a seven billion dollar (7.8 billion euro) tender to sell Turkey 1,000 tanks.

Earlier this year, it sold arms to the former Yugoslav republic of Macedonia, which has been facing an armed ethnic Albanian rebellion.

Before it became independent in 1991, the former Soviet republic produced around 30 percent of the weapons of the Soviet Union, including tanks, missiles and military aircraft. ((c) 2001 Agence France Presse)

[BLASTER 14]

One good use for these tanks would be to equip the OPFOR unit at the National Training Center with them. This would obviate the use of US equipment which are mockups of the old Soviet equipment.

The Russians have sold their stuff all over the world. This would give our guys a feel for going up against the real thing, rather than against mockups.

If the Unkraininans are willing to sell some of their old Soviet APCs, etc, we should buy a few of them also--just for realism.