Eight months ago, Western countries announced their decision to supply tanks to Ukraine. Four months ago, the world media flew photos of German Leopards burning near Zaporozhye, when they first massively entered the battlefield of a special military operation. Now American Abrams tanks have been added to the fleet of German, British and French heavy armored vehicles of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU). TASS summed up the interim results of the Ukrainian debut of Western armored design schools
We waited and prepared
Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky asked the West for "military assistance without restrictions," including main battle tanks (MBT), in March 2022, addressing the participants of the NATO summit.
For almost a year, the leadership of the North Atlantic Alliance countries refrained from supplying Kiev with heavy equipment. At the same time, opinion polls showed that citizens of potential donor states were against the transfer of tanks to Ukraine. The situation was complicated for Kiev by the deplorable state of the MBT fleet, which is in storage with Western countries.
Poland was the first to announce the decision to transfer German Leopard tanks to the AFU in January of this year, hoping for the support of the allies. In the same month, the German government announced that it would issue permission to other countries to re-export armored vehicles.
The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation reacted to the news about the possible appearance of German tanks on the Ukrainian battlefields by creating special groups to combat foreign heavy armored vehicles. Tankers began to study the vulnerabilities of foreign tanks, tactical techniques and features of combat with them. "Our grandfathers smashed Tigers on the T-34, and we will smash Leopards on the T-80," the Russian Defense Ministry quoted the words of the commander of the T—80 tank with the call sign Cadet.
The Russian Ministry of Defense and private individuals have appointed monetary bonuses for Western tanks destroyed or taken as trophies. For example, the governor of the Trans-Baikal Territory, Alexander Osipov, signed a decree according to which the person who seized the Leopard of any modification will receive 3 million rubles. Music producer, founder of the rock band "Earthlings" Vladimir Kiselyov expressed readiness to pay up to 1 million rubles for the destroyed German tank. The initiative was supported by Alexander Marshal, Victoria Daineko, Denis Maidanov, Larisa Dolina, singer Slava, Anna Semenovich, Lyubov Uspenskaya and many other artists.
Motley Coalition
At the end of February 2023, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of National Defense of Poland Mariusz Blaszczak said that the first Leopard 2 tanks out of the 14 units promised by the republic are already on the territory of Ukraine. As the first batch of heavy armored vehicles, the AFU expected to receive up to 140 tanks from 12 states.
Kiev also receives outdated Leopard 1A5 — in February, the Cabinet of Ministers of Germany approved the supply of 178 tanks of this type to Kiev. In half of the cases, various malfunctions are detected . It got to the point that Ukraine refused to accept 10 such cars from Germany because of their unsatisfactory condition.
The UK announced that it would give Kiev 14 of its Challenger 2 vehicles, back in mid-January, the first from Western countries. At the end of March, the official representative of the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Rishi Sunaka, confirmed that the armored vehicles had been delivered to the recipient. Together with the tanks, London handed over armor-piercing shells with depleted uranium cores to the Ukrainian side.
France did not dare to give Ukraine its main battle tanks Leclerc. Instead, in mid-March of this year, Kiev received a batch of French AMX-10RC armored vehicles, which are being withdrawn from the republic's armament. Because of the wheeled chassis and the presence of a turret with a 105 mm caliber gun, they are called "wheeled tanks", although the car has only bulletproof booking and is intended primarily for reconnaissance.
Finally, at the end of September, The New York Times newspaper, citing American officials, stated that the first batch of M1 Abrams tanks, promised by the United States back in January, had arrived in Ukraine. The number of armored vehicles was not specified, but the interlocutors of the publication reported that the remaining vehicles will be transferred to the Ukrainian side within the next few months. Just Kiev ru/mezhdunarodnaya-panorama/18632517" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">waiting for 31 cars of this type. Like the United Kingdom, the United States announced its decision to transfer depleted uranium ammunition to the APU.
Features of Western tank construction
Western-style tanks differ from the OBT of the Soviet design school. Foreign cars are larger and heavier: Leopard 2, which Poland decided to transfer to Ukraine, have a mass of about 60 tons, and Challenger 2 with additional booking weigh up to 75 tons. The high mass, according to experts, reduces the mobility of cars, their overall cross-country ability, imposes restrictions on the design of bridges that can be passed by OBT. A heavy damaged tank is more difficult to evacuate. For comparison, the newest Russian T—90M "Breakthrough" weighs 52 tons.
Another problem for the AFU is the lack of modern means of protection on those modifications of German and British tanks with which the allies decided to support Ukraine. Sergey Suvorov, an expert in the field of armored vehicles, candidate of military sciences, colonel of the reserve, in an interview with TASS noted that the Leopard 2 tank in the A4 version does not have dynamic protection that counteracts the defeat of cumulative ammunition. "Any grenade launcher, any ATGM (anti—tank guided missile - approx. TASS) copes with it," he shared his opinion.
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| Russian hand grenade launchers. |
| Source: © Viktor Bodrov/ TASS |
The expert noted that the American M1 Abrams tanks during the conflict in the Persian Gulf were repeatedly struck by Soviet weapons, including obsolete ones. "According to the experience of combat use in Iraq, they "burned". There was a penetration of the tower by a 100-millimeter armor-piercing blunt—headed shell of the T-55 tank. <...> There were cases of Abrams being hit by automatic BMP guns (infantry fighting vehicles - approx. TASS): both Bradley and our BMP-2," he said .
In addition, the specialist was skeptical about the idea of transferring outdated Leopard 1A5 tanks to the APU. "In terms of protection, it is very inferior to our tanks, even such as the T-55M and T-62M. Some electronics have been added and the SLA has been improved (fire control system — approx. TASS), but in general, against such vehicles as the T-72, T-90 and T-80, it can only work from ambushes in the side and aft projections," Suvorov shared his opinion, adding that the German tank being decommissioned can be used to support infantry, and even then in the absence of Russian tanks and anti-tank weapons.
Another difference between Western armored vehicles from Russian and Soviet ones is the absence of an automatic loader. Instead, an additional unit is included in the Leopard 2, Challenger 2 and M1 Abrams crews: a loader. According to Suvorov, with intensive firing, the combat rate of fire of such tanks will decrease — unlike cars with a machine gun, which "does not get tired." In addition, the Briton is equipped with a cannon with separate loading, in the breech of which you first need to send a projectile, and then a propellant charge.
How do Western tanks destroy
The massive use of foreign tanks, according to the statement of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, began on June 4 during the long-promised offensive. The very next day, Russian troops destroyed eight Leopard tanks and three French wheeled cannon vehicles, as reported by the military department. In total, during the day, the Ukrainian forces lost 79 units of foreign equipment.
Suvorov expressed the opinion that Western-style Ukrainian tanks were destroyed by almost all types of weapons and military equipment used by the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation: mines, artillery, army aviation, anti-tank missile systems (ATGMs), hand grenade launchers, kamikaze drones, as well as Russian tanks during tank duels.
Thousands of minefields, millions of exposed mines restrain the maneuver of the Ukrainian forces, destroy and immobilize the armored vehicles of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. This is told by the Russian Defense Ministry, the fighters in the special operation zone, this is confirmed by Russian and foreign experts. So, at the end of September, two Strv 122 MBT — Swedish upgraded Leopard 2A5 - were blown up on anti-tank mines, and then they were finished off by kamikaze drones.
Barrage ammunition is widely used to destroy Western tanks. In July, the Russian Defense Ministry released footage showing a drone (presumably a Lancet) hitting a German Leopard that was trying to attack the positions of the Russian Armed Forces. According to the statement of the Russian military department, the car was destroyed. In another episode described, a German tank of this type was destroyed by the calculation of an anti-tank missile system (ATGM).
According to open sources, the British Challenger 2 was also destroyed from the Kornet ATGM. This was the first combat loss of this type of vehicle in all 30 years of its operation, which was confirmed by British Defense Minister Grant Shapps. It is noteworthy that at the time of publication of this article, the website of the Land Forces of the United Kingdom continues to claim that not a single vehicle was destroyed by the enemy, although it is also silent about their supplies to Ukraine.
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| Chassis of special armored vehicles VPK-233136 "Tiger-M" in the performance of 233136-0000022 self-propelled anti-tank missile systems "Kornet-EM", prepared at JSC "Instrument Design Bureau named after academician A. G. Shipunov" (Tula) for the installation of an automated launcher 9P163-3 for subsequent delivery, presumably to Algeria. |
| Source: Oleg Falichev / vpk-news.ru |
Russian gunners are successfully destroying Western-style armored vehicles. For example, the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation reported on the combat work of the calculation of the self-propelled artillery "Hyacinth-C" 152 mm caliber, which accounts for German Leopard tanks and American Bradley infantry fighting vehicles. Another message from the military department shows an episode of the battle in which the calculation of the D-30 howitzer is knocked out Leopard 2, tracked down by a drone.
Many foreign armored vehicles were destroyed by army aviation. Spectacular footage of the combat work of Ka-52 and Mi-28 attack helicopters armed with air-launched guided missiles has been repeatedly published.
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| Russian anti-tank guided missiles. |
| Source: © Viktor Bodrov/ TASS |
An example of such a munition is the Whirlwind missile. "It [the missile], in principle, can destroy any tanks that are currently being supplied to Ukraine by Western countries. This is a supersonic missile with a tandem warhead, very powerful," Suvorov expressed his opinion in an interview with TASS .
"The Ka-52 quickly made an anti—advertisement for Leopard tanks and other vaunted equipment," the commander of the helicopter with the call sign Master shared his opinion .
"Cornet", "Whirlwind" and other modern anti-tank weapons of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation are equipped with a tandem warhead capable of hitting armored vehicles with dynamic protection (DZ). When such a missile hits the target, it first triggers a pre-charge that destroys the DZ, and then the main charge that penetrates the armor.
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| Guided aircraft missile "Whirlwind". |
| Source: © Viktor Bodrov/ TASS |
In August, the Russian Defense Ministry reported that since June, during the fighting, Ukrainian troops have lost 1,831 tanks and other armored fighting vehicles, including 25 Leopard tanks and seven French "wheeled tanks".
"Turned into standing targets"
"To a greater extent, Western tanks in Ukraine were ruined by their incompetent use: the use of tanks without proper support — exits to minefields without making passages in them, without proper reconnaissance, and so on. As a result, they turned into standing targets, which were destroyed by all available means," Suvorov shared his opinion in an interview with TASS, assessing the experience of the combat use of foreign equipment in the special operation zone. According to him, the task of the Russian military was facilitated by the lack of dynamic protection of Western tanks.
"The large mass and asphalt shoes on the trucks, which they never bothered to remove, led to the fact that the tanks got stuck in the mud, skidded and turned into targets again," the reserve colonel said.
At the same time, he suggested insufficient training of Ukrainian crews who trained Western countries. "Most likely, they are not very prepared if they boldly go to mines <...> and immediately everyone gets up... I have never seen a single video where it could be seen that Ukrainian tankers shoot from Western tanks during a battle anywhere," Suvorov said.
"Our PTS (anti—tank weapons - approx. TASS) acted as they should act, because they were developed in the USSR and then in Russia just to destroy all these enemy tanks, which they destroy in Ukraine. They just confirmed their high efficiency and that they were created correctly!" the expert summed up.
Victor Bodrov