American Abrams Tanks getting smashed in Ukraine,
is making headlines. A total of 4 have been lost till now.
Viewers may note that the Abrams are operated by the 47th Mechanized Brigade in the Ukrainian army.
The brigade sprang into action north of Avdiivka, the focal
point of Russia's winter offensive, in late autumn. Shortly thereafter,
the M-1s arrived, taking the place of the brigade's remaining Leopard 2A6s.
The 47th lost its first M-1 on or before Feb. 26, the other losses followed this relatively quickly.
It seems, that 3 have been knocked out by Kornet Anti Tank Missile and one
other was most likely hit by an Upyr first person-view drone that struck the tank’s
ammunition compartment through an open blast door and sparked a fire that destroyed it.
Kornets have tandem warheads: the first charge takes out the
armor while the second explodes inside the tank. The Upyr FPV can carry RPG-7 mortar grenades, such
as the PG-7VL and the RKG-3M, as well as anti-tank hand grenades and this seems to be a lucky hit.
In this video, Defense Updates analyzes why American Abrams MBTs
are getting knocked out in Ukraine ? Let's check the 6 reasons one by one.
Ukraine’s Western-made tanks—Challenger 2s, Leopard 2s, and M-1 Abrams are high-priority
targets for Russian forces. They are a type of trophy kills.
Western tanks are targeted not only for their tactical value
but also because each successful strike serves as powerful propaganda material.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov had stated about Western weapons "They too will burn."
So, the threat is much higher for any Western tank,
especially Abrams since the U.S. is the main backer of Ukraine.
Ukraine got the older variant of Abrams.
Pentagon press secretary Pat Ryder had said that the Pentagon “made the decision to buy
the M-1A1 variant which will enable us to significantly expedite delivery timelines,
and deliver this important capability to Ukraine by the fall of this year,”
The M1A2 version of the Abrams is significantly more potent and has
better targeting, better communication, and better situational awareness.
So, Ukrainian forces are fighting with a less capable Abram.
American Abram MBTs armor is a mix of depleted uranium, ceramic,
and other materials laminated together. Every layer serves a distinct purpose,
collectively dispersing the impact of incoming rounds across the armor.
Depleted uranium is a byproduct of the process of enriching natural uranium to
create nuclear fuel. It is considered less radioactive than naturally occurring uranium
since it contains a lower amount of the fissionable material U-235.
In the United States, it falls under the purview of the U.S. Department
of Energy—and is subject to DOE regulations that bar its export.
Uranium is an exceptionally dense metal. This characteristic makes it ideal for
applications where having a large mass in a confined space is beneficial.
The Ukrainian M-1s, like all non-American M-1s, feature tungsten instead of depleted uranium.
Tungsten has a slightly greater density than depleted uranium but some reports
suggest that depleted uranium functions better with the other layers of the armor.
While it is unclear if tungsten ones are more vulnerable or not,
depleted uranium has been the preferred choice for the US Army and Ukraine hasn’t got it.
The latest version of Abrams is equipped with Israeli Trophy active protection system (APS)
Trophy is designed to protect vehicles from ATGMs,
RPGs, anti-tank rockets, and tank HEAT rounds. It uses a Hard Kill approach, a small number
of explosively formed projectiles destroy incoming threats before they hit the vehicle.
It is essentially designed to supplement the armor of light and heavily armored fighting vehicles.
US Army Col. Glenn Dean after evaluation drills in
2021 stated “I tried to kill the Abrams tank 48 times and failed”
Trophy APS would have certainly helped with Kornet hits.
But Ukraine has not got the Abrams that has this system in place.
Ukraine is running out of ammunition and NATO members are not doing enough to help Kyiv,
the alliance’s secretary-general, Jens Stoltenberg, has said,
in unusually blunt comments about the state of the war.
“Unprecedented aid from NATO allies has helped Ukraine survive as an independent
nation. But Ukraine needs even more support and they need it
now,” Stoltenberg told reporters at NATO headquarters in Brussels on 14 Mar 2024.
In a modern battlefield, an MBT needs to be supported by other elements in the battlefield.
But Ukraine’s resource constraint seems to affecting this .
As per Oryx, a project that records independently verifiable losses throughout the conflict,
Russia lost 2827 Tanks in the conflict of which 1858 are destroyed, 150 are damaged,
282 are abandoned and 537 are captured.
This figure matches the number provided by Bastian Giegerich, director-general
of the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS)
He said, "Tank losses since the full-scale invasion began now likely
top 3,000. To put that in perspective, Russia's battlefield tank losses are
greater than the number it had when it launched its offensive in 2022."
The loss includes 72 T-90M, which is one of Russia’s most advanced tanks.
The Uralvagonzavod designed T-90M is an upgraded version of the T-90 Tank,
first introduced in the early 1990s as an offshoot of the T-72,
featuring improvements in terms of protection, mobility, and firepower.
It is not easy for any MBT to survive in a warzone infested with drones and Anti
Tank Missiles Guided Missile. Abrams is no exception.
Crew survivability and combat effectiveness will certainly be better, but Abrams is not invincible.