US battle tanks to be deployed in Bulgaria for live-fire exercise

The pair of US M1A2 Abrams battle tanks is to be flown from the Ramstein Air Base in Germany over the weekend to the Novo Selo training area in Fort Stewart, Bulgaria, the first to be flown inside Europe. They will take part in the NATO war games to be staged at Europe’s eastern borders in response to Russia’s annexation of the Crimea. This week, US sources reported that the US is weighing the deployment of tanks, warplanes and heavy weapons systems in Eastern Europe and the Baltic states. Moscow responded that more than 40 new intercontinental ballistic missiles would be added to Russia’s nuclear arsenal this year and its army stood ready to deal with any threats.