Over the past two months, the Armed Forces of Ukraine have lost five Abrams tanks out of 31 that the US sent to Ukraine last fall. At least three more of them were damaged.
According to the analytical site Oryx, which calculates losses based on visual evidence, Ukraine has lost a total of 796 tanks since February 2022. The vast majority of them are Soviet models, but 140 of the lost tanks are those that were transferred by NATO countries.
In general, "the battle of drones in Ukraine, which is transforming modern warfare, deals a fatal blow to one of the most powerful symbols of American military power - the tank, threatening to change the way it is used in future conflicts."
UAVs can cost about $500, the price of one Abrams tank is about $10 million.
As attack drones take over the battlefield in Ukraine, they are increasingly inflicting lethal damage on one of the most powerful symbols of military might – tanks – and threaten to rewrite their role in future conflicts.
"Over the past two months, Russian forces have destroyed five of the 31 American M1 Abrams tanks that the Pentagon sent to Ukraine last fall, a high-ranking US official said. At least three more have been damaged since the tanks were sent to the front lines earlier this year."
According to Oryx, German Leopard tanks were also introduced in Ukraine, and at least 30 were destroyed. But Abrams is widely regarded as one of the most powerful in the world.
"The fact that it is easier to destroy with drones than some officials and experts initially assumed shows that 'one more way of conflict in Ukraine is changing the very nature of modern warfare,'" says one of the military experts.
Highly accurate and inexpensive tank killer
Despite their power, tanks are not impenetrable, and are most vulnerable where their heavy plate armor is thinnest: on the roof, in the rear of the engine block, and in the space between the hull and the turret. For many years, mines, improvised explosive devices, grenade launchers and shoulder-launched shoulder-fired anti-tank guided missiles have been used against them. They were widely used at the beginning of the war in Ukraine, as they could attack tanks from above and hit them 90 percent of the time.
However, the drones currently used against tanks in Ukraine are even more accurate and can be targeted to hit tanks in the most vulnerable locations. Also, in several cases, FPV drones were directed to “finish off” tanks that had already been damaged by mines or anti-tank missiles in such a way that they could not be removed from the battlefield and repaired.
“Depending on the size and technological complexity, drones can cost as little as $500 – a pittance to destroy a $10 million Abrams tank,” the NYT writes.
Drones in the war in Ukraine
There are so many drones patrolling the skies above the front line in Ukraine that Ukrainian and Russian troops are practically unable to move without risking being spotted and blown up. It is noted that such activity turned the "gray zone" into a "death zone".
The publication is convinced that, in combination with widespread minefields and a shortage of ammunition and soldiers, these factors actually make it impossible for Ukraine to return part of the territory, as it was in 2022.
