The U.S. cannot ship the tanks immediately because the U.S. military does not “have these tanks available in excess in our U.S. stocks,” deputy Pentagon press secretary Sabrina Singh told reporters Thursday.  

The Pentagon intends to procure the tanks through the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI), meaning it will buy the Abrams directly from its maker General Dynamics to then be shipped to Ukraine, a process that “is going to take months,” Singh said.  

She explained that the schedule will give U.S. officials time to train Ukrainian troops on the advanced weapon.