A video documenting the destruction of a NATO-supplied tank in Ukrainian service appeared on Russian social media on Tuesday. Initially identified as a German-made Leopard, the tank was later established to have been a US-made Abrams.
Only 31 Abrams tanks of the M1A1 type were sent to Ukraine, arriving late last year. Five had been confirmed destroyed as of mid-April. The newest video would bring the tally up to seven, while three others have taken significant damage.
Thermal camera footage attributed to Donetsk People’s Republic scouts shows a first-person-view (FPV) drone chasing the tank along a road before striking the back of the turret.
The view then switches to an observation drone, which documents another strike on the crew as it attempts to flee the burning vehicle.
According to the Russian open-source intelligence outfit Rybar, the strike took place on the Avdeevka front.
Rybar analysts were puzzled that the Ukrainian armed forces have not even attempted to improve the NATO-supplied tanks with field modifications designed to protect against UAV strikes. Such contraptions, initially derided as “grills” and “cope cages,” have proven to be effective against the widely used FPV drones.
The new video comes just three days after the Russian Defense Ministry released color footage of the destruction of another Abrams and the Bradley infantry fighting vehicle (IFV), also near Avdeevka. The town, heavily fortified by Ukrainian troops since 2014, was taken by Russian forces in February.
One of the Abrams tanks destroyed on the Avdeevka front was salvaged by Russian troops and brought to Moscow as a trophy ahead of the May 9 Victory Day festivities. The Russian military has also released a video of its demise, this time by guided anti-tank missiles.
Long believed to be one of the best-armored tanks in the world, the Abrams has been shown as vulnerable to a range of Russian weapons. The New York Times recently lamented the fact that $500 drones are so easily wrecking $10 million armored vehicles.