 U.S. tanks will participate in battles in Ukraine this year. American-made Abrams tanks that Ukrainians will use for training will arrive in Germany in the next few weeks, allowing soldiers to begin learning to use the much-anticipated armor according to two U.S. Defense Department officials. According to Politico edition, the 31M1A1 Abrams tanks a Ukrainian battalion's worth will arrive at the Grafenwer training area in Germany by mid to late May according to the officials. The training will begin a week or two later after the tanks go through a maintenance period. The training on how to operate and maintain the Abrams is expected to take up to 10 weeks and may include instructions on how to manoeuvre in combat, the official said. Some 250 Ukrainians are expected to go through the training program, which is run by 7th Army Training Command. The U.S. is accelerating the delivery of the Abrams by opting to send older M1A1 versions rather than the newer M1A2 type originally planned to go to Ukraine. The Pentagon anticipates the tanks will arrive on the battlefield by the end of the year. Ukraine Defense Contact Group is also working to deliver defense systems to counter Russian missile and drone attacks on Ukrainian cities and infrastructure. Two Patriot missile defense systems, including one from the U.S. and one made up of components from Germany and the Netherlands, arrived in Ukraine. In total, the members of the Contact Group have provided more than $55 billion in security assistance for Ukraine since the group's founding a year ago. The U.S. alone has provided $35 billion in security assistance to Ukraine since the full-scale invasion began.