The Australian Army has begun taking delivery of new tanks which, unlike their predecessors, are likely to see battlefield action, Defence Minister Brendan Nelson has warned. The first 18 of 59 Abrams battle tanks - bought from the United States at a cost of $528 million - were unloaded at Port Melbourne on Friday. Each weighs in at 63 tonnes and at full-throttle can hit almost 70 kph. Chief of Army Lieutenant General Peter Leahy told a delivery ceremony in a container terminal that the Abrams were much superior to the army's 30-year-old Leopard tanks, which are being retired without...