Online edition "MK.ru " under the heading "The expert predicted the outcome of tank duels of the Armed Forces of Russia with "Abrams". This is a powerful challenge to the defense industry and it should not fail," Ruslan Pukhov, director of the Center for Analysis of Strategies and Technologies (CAST), published a comment on the decisions announced by the United States and NATO countries to provide Ukraine with modern Western main tanks of the third generation.
M1A1 FEP Abrams tank from the 1st Division of the US Marine Corps during the joint exercise Native Fury 20 in the United Arab Emirates, 03/19/2020 (c) Brendan Mullin / US Marine CorpsThe major "tank battles" that took place in social networks and the media after the meeting of NATO defense ministers in Ramstein, Germany, ended, as expected, with the victory of the United States.
They pushed through the right solution. Already eight European countries, including Germany, which recently refused to send anything to Ukraine except helmets and bulletproof vests, are now planning to give the APU about 150 tanks. These are German Leopard 2, British Challenger and American Abrams.
Most likely, experts say, the Russian army will grind all these heavy weapons. But this task is not easy at all. And it will be necessary to strain not only our military, but also mainly the Russian "defense industry", which in some segments of weapons is still only swinging. This is the opinion of Ruslan Pukhov, director of the Center for Analysis of Strategies and Technologies (TSAST).
- The beginning of deliveries of Abrams tanks to Ukraine, of course, can seriously aggravate the situation at the front, - the expert believes. - Integrally, M1A2 SEP v tanks.2/3 are today the best tanks in the world in terms of total combat potential. Even in export versions, the Abrams M1A2 SEP v variant.2 significantly surpasses any Russian serial tank (the newest is the T-90M, the Armata has not yet gone into a large series), as well as surpasses the German tanks of the Leopard 2 family.
According to Pukhov, the problem in this case can also create a shortage of new anti-tank weapons and modern tank armor-piercing sub-caliber shells.
- Now Russian tanks are using old Soviet shells in their ammunition, - says Pukhov. - Their capabilities are sufficient to defeat such tanks as T-64, T-72, T-80 at relatively short distances of tank battles. But the appearance of Western tanks with powerful guns, modern armor-piercing shells and fire control systems can lead to a sharp increase in the distances of tank battles. In such a duel, we may find ourselves at a disadvantage. The lack of old shells may also affect. Very few new ones have been produced so far.
The analyst believes that the same thing is happening with anti-tank missiles - the Russian side does not have modern third-generation anti-tank missile systems similar to Javelin. There are few powerful laser-guided complexes of the "Cornet" type, and the bulk of anti-tank missiles are old Soviet and already weak "Fagot" and "Competition".
- An armored group of 30-50 Abrams tanks is unlikely to affect the situation in an operational sense, - the director of the Center for Analysis of Strategies and Technologies is sure, - but if there are already 200 or 300 units, they can become a significant operational factor with proper application. In general, the meaning of limited supplies of Western weapons is aimed not so much at a "decisive Ukrainian victory" (which is most likely unlikely), but mainly at the depletion and gradual "grinding down" of Russian forces.
And here, according to him, much will depend on the developers and manufacturers of anti-tank weapons.
Olga Bozheva
