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Ukraine already have the M1A1 Abrams tanks expected. This Monday, the Ukrainian president, Volodimir Zelenskyannounced the arrival of the first armored vehicles promised earlier this year by the United States.
”Good news from Defense Minister Rustem Umérov. O Abrams They are already in Ukraine and are preparing to reinforce our brigades… I thank our allies for fulfilling the agreements!”he wrote Zelensky on Telegram.
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In January this year, US President Joe Biden has promised to send 31 Abrams tanks to Ukraine. And during the meeting he had with Zelensky Last week, in Washington, the North American president told him that the first armored vehicles would arrive in the European country this week.
Before delivery, The United States removed certain technologies from Abrams tanks to prevent them from falling into Russian hands.
This Monday, The New York Times reported, citing two Pentagon sources, that the Abrams They arrived “several months earlier than initially planned and just in time for Kiev to use them in the counteroffensive.”
Blessing counteroffensive It was launched at the beginning of June this year and is currently in the last phase before the onset of winter in December, which will make military operations difficult.
Nowadays, The most intense fighting is taking place in the Zaporizhia regionwhere Ukraine Try to break the Russian defense lines. This is likely to be the initial destination of the Abrams.
In this note we explain the characteristics of the M1A1 Abrams and the performance they could have in combat.
The tanks M1A1 Abrams These are the armored vehicles that for decades led security forces’ assault actions. U.S in the conflicts in which they participated around the world.
He Abrams It is considered the most lethal tank on the battlefield. For the first version M1A1 More modern armored vehicles follow, such as the M1A2 (1992) and the M1A3, from 2009.
Designed by the company Chrysler DefenseIt has been in service since 1985 and can carry a crew of four.
They use an engine based on a powerful gas turbine 1,500 horsepower.
They have strong armor and a 120mm caliber main gun which is equipped with depleted uranium ammunition, with the ability to penetrate enemy armor. They also carry a second 105mm cannon and a 12.7mm machine gun.
The ammunition of depleted uranium that they use have caused controversy due to the toxic risks they pose to both the military and the population where they impact.
O Abrams They also have advanced firing systems, wide tracks, reach a top speed of 67 kilometers per hour (42 miles) and have a range of 443 kilometers (275 miles). Its weight is 63 tons.
Its ammunition storage system has special compartments that, in the event of an explosion, redirect the force outwards. So there is more chances of survival of the crew.
The powerful turbine engine of the Abrams tanks This allows them to move over almost any terrain, whether covered in snow or extremely muddy, Kevin Butler, a former Army lieutenant who was a platoon leader for these armored vehicles, told AP.
Butler recalled that in the late 1990s they conducted military exercises in muddy terrain at Fort Stewart, Georgiawhere he first expressed concern that the tanks would become trapped, as happened with the Humvees. But then he assured that the Abrams “didn’t even notice” the mud.
One of the main reasons why the United States did not decide to hand over the Abrams for Ukraine was due to its high operational cost.
The engine of Abrams tanks It requires hundreds of liters of fuel to operate.
According to AP, the tank consumes at least 4.7 liters of fuel per kilometer, whether stationary or moving, which means it is necessary to have available a caravan of tankers so that the armored vehicles continue advancing.
At the time, the United States believed that fuel requirements would pose a logistical nightmare for Ukrainian forces.
Additionally, Butler told the AP, although the Abrams They can cross the snow or mudflats typical of the geography of Ukrainethe fuel trucks that must accompany them cannot do the same.
Another problem is that the turbines of the Abrams They need to breathe and absorb air through ventilation areas with filters located on the back. When these filters become clogged, whether by sand or another element typical of the terrain they move through, they stop working.
As for the training to lead them, the forces of Ukraine They have been training for months, so they are already familiar with operating the tank’s complex systems.
Since before launching its counter-offensive in early June this year Ukraine He had said that only with Western tanks would he be able to break through the iron defense lines built in the territories he conquered.
Frank Ledwidge, who was a British Army officer in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars and is now a professor of strategy and military capabilities at the University of Portsmouth, England, told BBC Mundo a few months ago that “offensive operations on land require armor combination, which are the tanks; artillery, such as cannons and mortars; and infantry.”
“The best kind of armor you can have to recover territory are heavy tanks. “And the best tanks in the world are the Germans, the British and the Americans”, added the expert.
In this context, it should be noted that Ukraine has already received German Leopard 2 tanks and British Challenger tanks.
O M1A1 Abrams tanks They were first used on a battlefield in 1991 during the Gulf War.
To the Operation Desert Storm 1,848 of these armored vehicles were sent to participate in the liberation of Kuwaitwhich was invaded by Iraq.
He Abrams It defeated Iraqi Soviet-era T-55, T-62 and T-72 tanks.
According to the AP agency, after the Gulf WarThe Government Accountability Office (GAO) interviewed several soldiers who praised the tank’s high survivability and said that “several M1A1 crews reported receiving direct frontal hits from Iraqi T-72s with minimal damage.”
In 2003, they led the offensive against Baghdad during the United States invasion of Iraq, where units of the Third Infantry Division carried out what they called “storm attacks” to successfully penetrate Iraqi defenses.
Source: Elcomercio
I am Jack Morton and I work in 24 News Recorder. I mostly cover world news and I have also authored 24 news recorder. I find this work highly interesting and it allows me to keep up with current events happening around the world.
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