Footage launched on February 26 has supplied first affirmation of the destruction of an M1A1 Abrams tank operated by the Ukrainian Army. The tank was focused by a single use ‘kamikaze’ drone and suffered no less than one hit from a man-portable anti tank grenade launcher. This occurred in Berdychi northwest of Avdiivka, a key Donbas city lately deserted by Ukrainian forces after they took excessive casualties. Affirmation of the tank’s destruction occurred simply three days after drone footage taken on February 23 supplied the primary affirmation that Abrams tanks had been deployed to the frontlines in Ukraine, with the automobile thought to have lasted nicely beneath per week and probably as little as three days earlier than being neutralised. Shut up drone footage of the destroyed tank exhibits that its engine compartment was on fireplace and its ammunition compartment burned out.
It was beforehand lengthy speculated that Abrams tanks would rapidly start to take losses if deployed close to the frontlines in opposition to Russian forces, with the M1A1 having demonstrated solely very restricted survivability when deployed by the Iraqi Army in a lot decrease depth environments. The higher armoured British Challenger 2 tank, which in contrast to the Abrams had not seen its safety considerably downgraded earlier than supply, notably equally took losses in a short time after it was deployed for fight in August 2023. The dearth of depleted uranium armour stays a key distinction between fashions exported to Ukraine and Iraq and people fielded within the U.S. Army itself. It stays unsure whether or not the misplaced Abrams tank is in actual fact the primary to have been destroyed within the Donbas, with footage publicised on February 23 separate from that beforehand talked about notably exhibiting one of many automobiles stationary alongside a street. Though it was not clear if the automobile had been neutralised and deserted, or whether or not there was another clarification for its uncommon place within the struggle zone, it was broadly speculated that this automobile could have additionally been taken out in fight.
