Ukraine has pulled out American-made Abrams M1A1 SA main battle tanks from the front for the time being, The Associated Press reported on April 26.
The United States supplied Ukraine with 31 Abrams over the past year.
Russian sources claim that at least a third of these tanks have already been destroyed or damaged.
All the losses were near the city of Avdeevka in the Donetsk direction.
- Two American military officials told the AP that the Ukrainian decision to pull out the Abrams from the front was the result of the excessive use of drones by the Russian military, which made it too difficult for the tanks to operate without detection or coming under attack.
The U.S. will work with the Ukrainians to reset tactics, Joint Chiefs of Staff Vice Chairman Adm. Christopher Grady and a third military official said.
- “When you think about the way the fight has evolved, massed armor in an environment where unmanned aerial systems are ubiquitous can be at risk,” Grady told the AP in an interview this week, adding that tanks are still important.
- “Now, there is a way to do it,” he said.
- “We’ll work with our Ukrainian partners, and other partners on the ground, to help them think through how they might use that, in that kind of changed environment now, where everything is seen immediately.”
While the American military officials who spoke to the AP said that Russian drones were the main threat facing Ukrainian Abrams tanks, many of the losses were in fact caused by anti-tank guided missiles. One kill was also attributed to a Russian T-72B3 main battle tank.
The performance of the Abrams in Ukraine was catastrophic to say the least. There were even reports about how much the Ukrainian struggled to just maintain and operate the tanks.
The U.S. will likely provide Ukraine with additional armor packages for the remaining Abrams tanks. However, this will not make any difference.
Despite the recent approval of $61 billion in aid to Ukraine, the U.S. may not provide more Abrams tanks to Kiev forces to avoid further embarrassment.
Source: Southfront