More than 110 tanks lost during fighting in Ethiopia

Since the beginning of the armed conflict in Ethiopia between government forces and formations of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Tigray (PFLP), the parties have lost more than 110 tanks of various models.

We are talking about combat vehicles, the destruction of which was visually confirmed by photographs and video materials. The largest number falls on the T-54/55, a total of 44 pieces, of which a pair of upgraded T-55AM2 and T-55AMB, with additional reservation and dynamic protection.

Also, some of these tanks have been modified by local repairmen. They were reinforced with overhanging shelves, equipped with "reactive armor", equipped with Chinese Type 85 anti-aircraft machine guns. Similar work was carried out on some T-62s.

If we talk about the "sixty-second" completely disabled, then on December 6 there were 41 of them.

In total, before the outbreak of hostilities, there were about two and a half hundred T-54/55, T-62 in the armed forces of this country.

More modern tanks are represented by the T-72B1 (215 vehicles) and T-72 UA1 purchased in Ukraine, the latter only 35 units. Instead of the regular B-84 with a capacity of 840 hp, they installed 1050-horsepower two-stroke 5TDFMA-1 diesels. In total, 26 "seventy-second" were lost, of which one T-72 UA1 was captured by NFOT militants.

As military expert Yuri Lyamin noted, heavy armored vehicles are used to support infantry formations, which are currently mostly poorly trained militia formations.

Interestingly, during the conflict, some tanks changed hands several times, a large number of them were abandoned or burned during the marches.

"Apparently, the main means of fighting are hand-held anti-tank grenade launchers. At the same time, Chinese, Iranian and Turkish-made drones are actively used for strikes on ground targets, including armored ones," Lyamin said.

Alexey Moiseev