Ukraine praises Abrams: Superior to Soviet tanks in combat
An article featuring statements from Ukrainian soldiers about American Abrams tanks was published on Business Insider. Although the war with Russia has shown that they are not invincible, their capabilities and equipment have been rated much better than Soviet-era and even newer Russian tanks.
"It's better than T-72, T-62, and even Russian T-90," said a Ukrainian Abrams tank commander quoted by Business Insider.
Ukrainians assessed the Abrams
The Ukrainians pointed out that the Soviet-era T-series tanks are smaller and lighter than Abrams tanks. As a result, they are somewhat harder targets, but on the other hand, they have weaker armor and do not provide the crew with as high a level of protection as the American machines. Additionally, the latter are equipped with powerful engines (1,500 horsepower), which provide good mobility in the field and the ability to reach maximum speeds on roads of up to 43 mph.
It was emphasized that the war in Ukraine is the first conflict in which Abrams tanks have faced Soviet tanks on such a scale in direct confrontation. However, their main problem turned out to be not enemy tanks, but mines, anti-tank missiles, and FPV (first-person view) drones. Precisely because of the drones used by Russians on a massive scale, efforts are being made to modify the Abrams.
How many Abrams tanks does Ukraine have?
As part of support from the United States, Ukraine received 31 Abrams tanks in the M1A1 variant. According to data provided by the authors of the Oryx blog, whose goal is to document the equipment losses sustained by the parties fighting in Ukraine, Russians have already eliminated 17 such American tanks. Some of them have been destroyed and damaged, and a few units have been captured and taken to Russia.
"It's an infinitely superior system. The A1 may be old in the sense that it's been in our inventory for quite some time, but it's far superior to anything that the Russians have," military expert Robert Greenway told Business Insider.
The armament of the M1A1 tanks consists of 120 mm caliber guns and machine guns of 12.7 mm and 7.62 mm calibers. Ukrainians rate the firepower provided by the American tanks highly, as well as the advanced fire control system with which they are equipped.
