The Ukrainians withdrew the American Abrams tanks from the front

The United States agreed to deliver an older version of the Abrams in January 2023. They were supposed to help them break through Russian lines in a counteroffensive. But the battlefield has changed since then. The Russians began to use surveillance drones more widely. Once they spot the tank, they will direct artillery fire or killer drones at it to destroy the tank.

According to one Pentagon official, the number of drones on the front line is such that “there is no open space that you can fly through without fear of detection.”

“We will work with our Ukrainian partners and other partners to figure out how they can use them in a transformed environment where everything is immediately visible,” the Pentagon official added to the AP, adding that there is a way.

The Ukrainians lost their first Abrams and are in danger of losing more. The Americans supplied weapons without ensuring maintenance

The war in Ukraine

According to another American official, it would help to use tanks in a wider combination of weapons, in which American soldiers are already training Ukrainians in Germany, the source of The Guardian said. But they did not use American tactics.

The Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Christopher Grady, is also aware of the problem: “When you think about how the fight has developed, the mass deployment of armored personnel carriers in an environment saturated with drones can be risky.” He emphasized that tanks are still an important weapon.

The Ukrainians wanted to keep the Abrams delivered in the fall in the rear for a possible next offensive. In the end, however, they were received by the 47th Mechanized Brigade, which was unsuccessfully trying to defend Avdijivka. According to Austrian Colonel Marcus Reisner, the problem was the lack of better air defenses on the battlefield.

But The New York Times questioned whether smyls tanks can still be used in the current situation. He pointed out that according to the website Oryx, which monitors losses of equipment in Ukraine, according to photos, at least 30 Leopard tanks were hit. The very well protected British challenger was also hit.

Since the start of the war, 796 Ukrainian tanks have been destroyed or abandoned in the conflict, of which only 140 were tanks supplied by Western allies. The Russians lost over 2,900 tanks.

The problem with tanks is the armor in the upper part, which is weaker. This is used when attacking with modern anti-tank missiles, such as javelin, but also drones. Now the main danger is fast FPV drones that can be guided to the tank’s weakest point. Damaged tanks that were previously damaged by mines or anti-tank missiles are also arriving, pointed out Austrian Colonel Markus Reisner. He pointed out that multi-million dollar tanks (e.g. the latest Abrams come in at ten million dollars) can destroy drones for as little as $500.

In addition, Russian drones are more resistant to jamming, Ukrainska pravda reported in mid-April. The Russians have changed the frequencies on which the drones are controlled. Now the signals are broadcast in the range of 700 to 1000 MHz, but the Ukrainians are only able to jam signals around 900 MHz.

However, as analyst Milan Mikulecký pointed out, offensive operations in which defenses are breached are not possible without the deployment of armored vehicles, including tanks.

The first American Abrams tanks are already in Ukraine

Europe