Abrams tanks arrive in Ukraine: Can they make a difference?

M1 Abrams coming soon

The New York Times, citing two unnamed US defense officials, added that more M1 Abrams tanks would be sent in the coming months. They said the shipment to Ukraine last Saturday was the first of 31 that the Biden administration had promised to provide to Ukraine.

An Abrams tank at the Army Armor School in Fort Benning, Georgia, conducts live-fire training in April 2022. Photo: Business Insider

On the Ukrainian side, President Zelenskyy did not provide detailed numbers in a post on his Telegram channel. Instead, he simply wrote: “Good news from Minister (of Defense) Umerov. Abrams is in Ukraine and is preparing reinforcements for our brigades,” adding that he was “grateful to our allies.”

But US officials told the New York Times that two platoons of tanks were sent to Ukraine in the first shipment of the first batch. That number would generally be between eight and 10 tanks.

If reports in the Western press are accurate, this could be a major boost for Ukraine. The tanks have arrived just in time to be used in a renewed pushback as Kiev forces seek to exploit a recent breach in Russian defenses in Zaporizhzhia.

The US military began training Ukrainian forces in late spring, conducting an abbreviated 12-week course to operate M1 Abrams tanks at US military bases in Germany.

The US decision to provide M1 Abrams tanks is also expected to trigger the transfer from European countries of several dozen German-made Leopard tanks, something Berlin is unwilling to allow without a similar commitment from Washington.

How strong is the M1 Abrams?

Advanced Western tanks and other armored vehicles have become a flashpoint in debates between Ukrainian military leaders and their supporters in the Pentagon, some of whom want Kiev to use the equipment more actively in the conflict.

Ukrainian military leaders, who initially tried to follow the US approach but faced setbacks due to Russian minefields and air attacks, later switched to a gradual approach, drawing criticism from some Western observers.

However, the Abrams, one of the most modern tanks in the world, has a number of technical advantages that could make them more useful to Ukraine than other Western tanks.

Ben Barry, a former British tank commander who is now a ground warfare expert at the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) in London, said the Abrams tanks would have some impact and offer many advantages, especially compared to the old Leopard 1 tanks that Ukraine was given.

Carrying a crew of four, the M1 Abrams was first deployed in combat in 1991. The tank features thick armor, a 120mm main gun capable of firing a variety of armor-piercing rounds and an advanced targeting system, thick wheels, and a 1,500-horsepower turbine engine with a top speed of about 42 mph.

Crews interviewed in a 1992 US Government Accountability Office (US. GAO) assessment after the Gulf War praised the M1 Abrams' high survivability and said "several M1A1 crews reported taking direct fire from Iraqi T-72 tanks but suffering only minimal damage."

The M1 Abrams’ powerful engine can push the tank through almost any terrain, whether deep snow or mud, said Kevin Butler, a former U.S. Army lieutenant who served as an M1 Abrams tank platoon commander. Butler recalled a training exercise in the late 1990s at Fort Stewart, Georgia, where he voiced concerns about the tank getting stuck. “But in the end, the Abrams didn’t even notice the mud,” Butler said.

Can Abrams make a difference?

The superior features of the M1 Abrams may create a morale boost for Ukrainian soldiers. But it would be premature and overly optimistic to say that this type of tank will create a turning point on the Ukrainian battlefield.

Former senior US military officers say it could be some time before the M1 Abrams are deployed to the battlefield, as the Ukrainian military must first ensure it has the necessary support elements and decide where and when the vehicles will be most effective.

Until then, the locations of the tanks will likely have to be kept a closely guarded secret because Ukrainian forces do not want to lose them to precision strikes before the M1 Abrams are actually in combat, said Ben Hodges, a retired US general who once commanded US tank forces in Europe.

An M1 Abrams tank operated by the Polish army. Photo: WSJ

The weather is also a huge obstacle. With the autumn rains approaching, the ground will soon become muddy, making it much more difficult for armored vehicles to move across the fields.

In addition, in the first months of the counteroffensive, as Ukraine advanced with German Leopard II tanks and American armored personnel carriers, the battlefield showed that Western armored vehicles were the primary targets of Russian forces. Drones often quickly detected armored vehicles, signaled their location to artillery units and helicopters, and then targeted them effectively.

Major General Kyrylo Budanov, head of Ukraine’s HUR military intelligence agency, recently said in an interview with a military news site that minefields have proven to be a major obstacle for tracked vehicles such as tanks. Even minimal damage, he said, can disable the wheels and tracks, causing the vehicles to become stuck, which then blocks the forward path of their own units.

As a result, US Defense Department officials have repeatedly warned that no single weapon system can change the outcome of the Ukrainian conflict due to the complexity of these modern weapons. Not to mention, the number of tanks Ukraine received was too small compared to its needs.

Austrian Army Colonel Markus Reisner, who closely follows the Russia-Ukraine conflict at the Austrian National Military Academy, said Ukraine needs at least 300 Western tanks to counterattack, but so far Kiev has received only about half of them.

Quang Anh

Source: https://www.congluan.vn/xe-tang-abrams-da-den-ukraine-lieu-co-the-tao-ra-su-khac-biet-post266289.html