Update on armored fighting vehicles in the Russian/Ukranian war.

[Tex Jones, SASS 2263]

This piece is from Intellinews on the MSN website from yesterday.

 

Ukrainian forces are withdrawing US-provided Abrams M1A1 main battle tanks from the front lines after at least five have been destroyed by cheap Russian drones, according to the AP.

A loud cheer went up amongst Ukraine’s support when the US announced in January 2023 it would deliver a battalion of Abrams tanks to Ukraine. The hope was that 31 US made tanks, which are far superior to the Russian T-72 tank that is in wide use by Russia’s forces, would be a game changer.

The Abrams has better front armour and a more powerful gun that can penetrate the Russian tanks armour. By October 2023, all 31 tanks had been successfully delivered, as confirmed by officials.

However, the evolving dynamics of warfare, particularly the proliferation of Russian surveillance and hunter-killer drones, have dramatically altered the operational landscape. It turned out that the Abrams were more vulnerable to Russian attacks than previously believed.

The Russian forces avoided head-to-head clashes between tanks that they were likely to lose and instead adopted a new tactic: attacking the Abrams with swarms of drones that targeted tanks weak points: typically the point where the turret meets the body, the rear covering of the engine and the top of the tank where the armour is thinnest.

The Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) played on these weaknesses in the early days of the war, using US-supplied Javelin missiles that swoop upwards before reaching their target before dropping down on the roof of the Russian tanks. As Soviet designers had chosen to store all the tank’s rounds in the turret, these would then explode and cause the Russian tanks to “pop their tops” killing everyone inside.

According to the US officials speaking to AP, the Russian drones have been very effective and led to the loss of five Abrams tanks on the battlefield, prompting a reassessment of their deployment.

One senior military official, speaking anonymously, said another problem was the Russian forces usually had plenty of warning when an Abrams tank was on the way thanks to extensive drone surveillance. 'There isn't open ground that you can just drive across without fear of detection.'

While Ukraine led in the use and development of drones in the first year of the war, Russia has been pouring money into its military industrial complex and has now overtaken Ukraine in terms of both the quantity and quality of drones that it is producing, as well as all its munition supplies in general.

German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius said on TV on April 25 that the heavy state investment into the military industrial complex and conversion of civilian production to military has resulted in Russia producing more arms than it needs, with the surplus heading to warehouses rather than the front line. Pistorius suggested that Russia is preparing for a long war or could be thinking about expanding the conflict to include other countries.

“Now you can be naïve and say he (President Vladimir Putin) is doing it just out of caution,” Pistorius stressed. “As a sceptical person, I would say in this case that he’s doing it because he has [other] plans…”

This investment is also altering the balance of power for tanks. Earlier this year, the Russian defence ministry announced that it had inducted over 1,500 new main battle tanks in 2023 to support its war campaign, whereas Forbes reported in December that Ukraine is down to 350, most of which are the Soviet warhorse, a modified T-72 tank.

“Now you can be naïve and say he (President Vladimir Putin) is doing it just out of caution,” Pistorius stressed. “As a sceptical person, I would say in this case that he’s doing it because he has [other] plans…”

This investment is also altering the balance of power for tanks. Earlier this year, the Russian defence ministry announced that it had inducted over 1,500 new main battle tanks in 2023 to support its war campaign, whereas Forbes reported in December that Ukraine is down to 350, most of which are the Soviet warhorse, a modified T-72 tank.

And money is increasingly an issue. US funding for Ukraine began to dry up last summer, and the US ranout of money for Ukraine completely in January. After four months of dithering, Congress finally voted through a $61bn aid package on April 20 that will allow military supplies to resume.

However, while thelist of weapons to be sent to Ukraine includes Bradley APC and more Javelins, notably there is no mention of any more tanks.

The Abrams had previously been seen as “one of the world’s mightiest” battle tanks, according to Col. Reisner commenting on the effectiveness of the Russian drones. “Welcome to the 21st century — it’s unbelievable, actually,” he said of the changing nature of warfare.

The Abrams tanks have been temporarily removed from the front lines, with plans underway for the US and Ukraine to have a rethink and collaborate on adapting tactics to the evolving threat environment, according to US Joint Chiefs of Staff Chair Adm. Christopher Grady.

'When you think about the way the fight has evolved, massed armour in an environment where unmanned aerial systems are ubiquitous can be at risk,' Grady said, as cited by Euromaidan Press.

The US had previously provided training to Ukrainian forces on tank operation and combined arms warfare tactics at the Grafenwoehr Army base in Germany in spring 2023. However, officials noted that since then, Ukrainian forces have not fully utilised the Abrams tanks or implemented combined arms warfare strategies effectively.

Likewise, Germany sent about five squadrons of its equally powerful Leopard main battle tanks that have been equally disappointing. At least 11 of the 21 sent have been destroyed or damaged and taken out of action, Forbes reported in December. The majority of the Leopard 2A6 tanks sent to Ukraine by Germany are no longer functioning, a senior politician for the German Greens said in January.

[Subdeacon Joe]

So the vehicles will be retrofitted with some type of armor to defeat the drones. 

 

Then the drone operators will come up with new hardware and/or methods to defeat the new armour, and the cycle repeats.

[Trailrider #896]

The chess game continues! 

[Red Gauntlet , SASS 60619]

Good to find out now, rather than later. Hope we're paying close attention where it counts....

[J-BAR #18287]

I'm not a veteran.

 

I instinctively dislike the idea of sealing myself in a tank.  Seems like putting myself on a bullseye and offering myself as a target.

 

Is fighting in a tank safer than being an infantryman?

[Forty Rod SASS 3935]

2 hours ago, J-BAR #18287 said:

I'm not a veteran.

 

I instinctively dislike the idea of sealing myself in a tank.  Seems like putting myself on a bullseye and offering myself as a target.

 

Is fighting in a tank safer than being an infantryman?

As Willy (or Joe.  Never could tell them apart) said: a moving foxhole attracts the eye.

[Chantry]

2 hours ago, J-BAR #18287 said:

I'm not a veteran.

 

I instinctively dislike the idea of sealing myself in a tank.  Seems like putting myself on a bullseye and offering myself as a target.

 

Is fighting in a tank safer than being an infantryman?

Not a veteran either, but like everything there are plus and minuses:

Tankers rarely have to march for any length of time; properly handled a tank can be a very difficult target to kill; tankers don't spend a lot of time out in the bad weather, but like a ship it's a group effort and when the ship gets hit, your chances of getting hurt are higher

 

Infantry have to march (or ride in armored fighting vehicles which are a lot more vulnerable than a tank); leg infantry have to carry large, heavy packs in all kinds of weather; while leg infantry are much smaller targets, they are also much more vulnerable to being injured.

 

In the combat arms, there are no safe jobs, just jobs that have different ways to end up dead.