A Russian Lancet-family kamikaze drone has scored a hit on a US-supplied Ukrainian M1 Abrams tank, footage that emerged online on Saturday shows.
The new video, which was said to have been taken near the village of Solovyovo in Russia’s Donetsk People’s Republic, shows the loitering munition hitting a stationary M1 Abrams tank.
The drone hits the tank on the roof of its turret, apparently setting off its smoke grenade launchers, which begin to detonate uncontrollably and obscure the view. The extent of the damage to the tank was not immediately clear.
The video is the first-ever documented instance of a Lancet strike on a US-made M1 Abrams tank. In the footage, the loitering munition appears to have actively maneuvered before hitting its target, similar to what is seen from Lancets in other recent videos. The final approach pattern is believed to be an evasive maneuver introduced to protect the drones from small-arms fire from the ground.
US-made Abrams tanks made their long-expected appearance on the front in late February as Ukrainian forces attempted to stop the Russian advance after the fall of Avdeevka earlier that month.
Washington pledged 31 M1 Abrams tanks and several M1150 Assault Breacher Vehicles – which are based on the same chassis – early last year ahead of the long heralded but ultimately disastrous Ukrainian counteroffensive. The batch arrived in full only by mid-October, by which time the counteroffensive was largely exhausted.
The Russian Defense Ministry has confirmed that at least five M1 Abrams have been destroyed, with several others sustaining varying degrees of damage, uncorroborated footage circulating online suggests.