The U.S. is working to get Abrams tanks to Ukraine faster than previously expected, White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said Tuesday.
Bloomberg News reported that Kirby revealed the speed-up during an interview on MSNBC.
"We're working on that," he told the news outlet, Bloomberg News reported. "There's some changes that you can make to the process to sort of speed that up."
The Pentagon has previously announced it would send General Dynamics Land Systems-made Abrams tanks to Ukraine as quickly as possible, Defense News reported.
The timing has been hush-hush.
On a webcast this month, Doug Bush, assistant secretary of the Army for acquisition, logistics, and technology, told Defense News the Army has a plan and "we're executing it. We just can't talk about the details."
But in late February, Army Secretary Christine Wormuth said the Army wouldn't deliver tanks to Ukraine for months.
"There are longer timelines involved, but I think there are options that are less than two years, less than a year and a half," she said at that time, Defense News reported.
Bush also warned sending the tanks to Ukraine wouldn't be simple.
"It's not just sending a tank," he told Defense News. "A tank by itself is not a military capability. You have to send the whole package. That includes ammunition, vehicles to maintain it, fuel, you have to do the training on the system so that it can be sustained in combat.
"We have to prepare equipment to go in a way that doesn't impact readiness of U.S. Army units and it doesn't affect deliveries of equipment to other allies, who we are also working to fulfill their order for M1 Abrams tanks."
However, Kirby's remarks Tuesday indicated the timeline is moving up.
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