As I explained, and was well-known since early in the war, Scholz has now made it explicit that he will not consent to the transfer of Leopard 2 to Ukraine unless the US contributes at least a token quantity, even single digits, of Abrams.

Either way, the penny packet bullshit continues.
Yup, Scholz has shown himself as completely unfit to try and lead Germany in this crisis. I'll give him credit for getting Germany off Russian gas so quickly but the Zeitwende he announced in February has not come about.

Hope the new German Defense Minister can reform the Bundeswehr and its ties with industry some.
Also hope the US is willing to send a company of Abrams M1A2s just to force the Germans hands. The Ukrainians have show capable of handling multiple different vehicles and getting them some sustainment report. As for the fuel guzzling, the T80s they field also have gas-turbine engines so it shouldn't be unknown to them what to do with the Abrams. I've had to watch Abrams destroyed by poor use in the hands of Iraqis and Saudis, would much rather see them face the foe they were designed against by a country that has shown a knack for fighting.

Both Turkish L2s and Iraqi T-72s (and Saudi export Abrams) suffered as much from obsolescence of their technical characteristics as user error, and the lesson coming through this war is once again 'Only 21st-c. tanks are worth anything if you actually plan to fight a serious war.'
At the very least though, western tanks due have higher rates of crew survivability, something extremely valuable in order to first get crews to expose themselves to danger and secondly to retain that cadre of experienced tankers.
The Abrams are certainly not obsolete by any means but the Sep4 finally upgrades the FLIRs again, though the system is due for replacement primarily because it just isn't designed for all the networked warfare/data sharing that future systems can field.
I won't speak to the armor but it seems to have done well enough that the US just hasn't even considered investment in Reactive Armor as a supplement yet. The frontal arc of the Abrams M1A2s and Challenger 2s should be top notch, the Leo2s are probably damn good too though they don't use DU materials. All MBTs though will be vulnerable to the sides and top.

Was glad to see the Swedes sending over CV-90/4s and more artillery as well as the Danes, even the French are considering sending over Leclercs. Think Western arms industry are seeing that future sales of platforms and keeping their factories open for present day spare parts may depend on their performance in the only true conventional war since Desert Storm. The CV-90s are impressive IFVs, always thought the US should have used those for the basis of a Bradley replacement instead of opting for the Puma and then going for this new optionally manned boondoggle.
Would like to see how Leclercs hold up in combat, the French have always had a different approach to armor that hasn't had a chance to show itself since WW2 as the AMX30s in Desert Storm were obsolete even then.

There is one major assumption here: Taiwan must resist and not capitulate. If Taiwan surrenders
before U.S. forces can be brought to bear, the rest is futile.

This defense comes at a high cost. The United States and Japan lose dozens of ships, hundreds of
aircraft, and thousands of servicemembers. Such losses would damage the U.S. global position
for many years. While Taiwan?s military is unbroken, it is severely degraded and left to defend a
damaged economy on an island without electricity and basic services. China also suffers heavily. Its
navy is in shambles, the core of its amphibious forces is broken, and tens of thousands of soldiers
are prisoners of war.
Well, the PRC has certainly demonstrated to Taiwan's people that promises will not be kept as seen in Hong Kong so hopefully if it comes to blows the Taiwanese have the will to resist.

Haven't read the report yet but will do so. I still can't see a China that depends on maritime trade for food and fuel starting a war over Taiwan until they could garruntee to keep the US Navy beyond the Malacca Straits and and Guam.