File image.
Another American-made M1A1 SA Abrams main battle tank of Kiev forces was destroyed by the Russian military in the Donetsk direction.
The tank was targeted with multiple FPV suicide drones close to the settlement of Mykolaivka, which is located to the northwest of the city of Avdeeva. Video footage of the attack was posted to social networks on August 11. The footage shows a drone hitting the tank’s engine, effectively disabling it. Several other drones later hit the tank, setting the ammunition stored in the rear of the turret on fire.
It’s worth noting that the tank was upgraded with a cage armor and explosive reactive armor blocks. Still, the drones managed to kill it.
Ukraine received 31 Abrams from the United States over the past year. Russian media sources claim that more than a third of the tanks have already been destroyed or damaged. All the losses were near Avdeevka.
The total cost of the Abrams can vary, and can be over $10 million per a single tank when including training and sustainment.
Ukraine withdrew all Abrams tanks from the front earlier this year as 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, according to The Associated Press. However, the advance of the Russian military near Avdeevka forced Kiev forces to redeploy the tanks.
A recent report by CNN acknowledged that the tank performed poorly in Ukraine and revealed that Kiev forces have been struggling just to keep their remaining Abrams operational.
The failure of the Abrams in Ukraine was not surprising as the tank suffered serious losses in Iraq and Yemen in past conflicts.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
SouthFront: Analysis and Intelligence
NOW hosted at southfront.press
Previously, SouthFront: Analysis and Intelligence was at southfront.org.
The .org domain name had been blocked by the US (NATO) (https://southfront.press/southfront-org-blocked-by-u-s-controlled-global-internet-supervisor/) globally, outlawed and without any explanation
Back before that, from 2013 to 2015, SouthFront: Analysis and Intelligence was at southfront.com
