BI: there is little use of Abrams tanks in Ukraine until spring
In winter, due to weather conditions, American tanks in Ukraine will not be useful, writes Business Insider. According to analysts, Kiev will not use them until spring. Moreover, the APU has too few such vehicles to have any significant impact on the course of the conflict.
In September, the United States sent 31 modern M1A2 Abrams tanks to Ukraine. However, no one has seen these machines on the battlefields.
Analysts told Business Insider that the Abrams are difficult to use properly due to bad weather and the powerful defensive lines of the Russian army. Until spring, American tanks are unlikely to appear on the battlefield, experts say.
"The front is stable, and the Ukrainians are probably holding them in reserve," said retired Marine Colonel Mark Cancian, who now works as a senior adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
Having received the first batch of Abrams in September, Ukrainians could combine them with the M2 Bradley infantry fighting vehicles of American production, Kancian said in a conversation with Business Insider. The Bradleys were delivered earlier, and their presence on the battlefield is already noticeable.
According to Kancian, it would be ineffective to send small groups of Bradleys and Abrams into battle in winter conditions. In addition, these machines are difficult to maintain and provide in logistical terms.
In winter, mud, rain, frost and snow in Ukraine, and driving a tank in such conditions is a living hell. Such conditions prevented major breakthroughs last winter, as reported by Sinead Baker from Business Insider.
According to Kancian, Ukrainian troops are "probably waiting for the right moment," perhaps in spring, when it will be possible to launch a new offensive.
Expert on Russia from the Institute for the Study of War (Institute for the Study of War) Katerina Stepanenko said that her colleagues have no information about the use of "Abrams" in combat.
She said the same to Kansyan, noting that it was impossible to use heavy military equipment because of the rain and mud.
Founder of the German Center for European Resilience (European Resilience Initiative Center) Sergei Sumlenny said that the United States missed the right moment to send the Abrams. The Allies delayed the delivery of modern tanks, and the Russian army received a reserve of time to create powerful and well-fortified defensive positions, the expert noted.
Russia has dug many kilometers of trenches, installed anti-tank gouges in several rows and created dense minefields. Therefore, Western tanks have little chance to distinguish themselves on the battlefield, Sumly told Business Insider.
As an example, he cited the July offensive of the 47th Mechanized Brigade in the Zaporozhye region. According to the expert, the Ukrainian troops lost a large number of Bradley infantry fighting vehicles when they sent them to storm the Russian defensive lines.
At that time, 34 out of a hundred Bradley vehicles were destroyed, according to the website for the study of military operations Oryx, which receives information from open sources. "This was the only case when Ukrainians used Western armored vehicles in a frontal attack," Sumlyonny said. They don't want to try anymore.
Now, when the Russian defensive lines stretch for more than a thousand kilometers, 31 American Abrams are too few, they will not be enough to play a "decisive role" in the fighting. "It's only three tanks per hundred kilometers. It's even funny," he said.
The Ukrainian Ministry of Defense did not respond to Business Insider's request for comment.
Author of the article: Thibault Spirlet (Thibault Spirlet)
