The US promised the Ukrainians 31 M1A1 tanks, which announced their arrival in the country at the end of September. Everything indicates that some of them are now close to the front line. This first visual confirmation allows us to find out more about the version delivered by Washington.
Pictures of tanks in Ukraine have been in abundance since February 24, 2022. They showed that more than 2,500 Russian tanks and almost 700 on the Ukrainian side were destroyed, damaged, captured or left on the ground, according to the count at the Oryx site. . But more than photos of charred armored vehicles, two photos published in the last few days are attracting particular attention. They show a newcomer to the plains of Ukraine that Kiev is eagerly awaiting. This is the American M1A1 Abrams tank, repainted in a darker color than the “sand” livery it wore in the Iraqi desert. This first visual confirmation allows us to learn more about the version that Washington wanted to provide to Ukrainian forces.
The first image, posted by a Ukrainian Telegram account, shows Abrams from the front with a crew of four soldiers. Mud and especially traces of snow on the ground. In the distance the deciduous forest has already lost its leaves. Don’t worry, the picture is very current if we refer to the Ukrainian weather.
The second photo, this time highlighted by Russian media, shows the sides and tail of an A1M1 maneuvering in sandy terrain. Here too the deciduous trees are bare. “An American Abrams M1A1 tank was spotted in the Kupiansk region near the front line. His photo was published by the Military Observer Telegram channel,” Russian daily Rossiïskaïa Gazeta commented on its website on November 26. To our knowledge, the exact geolocation of these images could not be confirmed, but everything indicates that at least one American-supplied Abrams is indeed stationed near the combat area, most likely in eastern Ukraine, as can be seen from the vegetation.
The Battle of Kupiansk
The news is not surprising. American President Joe Biden announced the delivery of 31 M1A1 tanks in January 2023, but raised doubts about the delivery schedule for several months. Finally, his counterpart in Kiev, Volodymyr Zelensky, confirmed last September that “Abrams was already in Ukraine and was preparing to reinforce our brigades,” without specifying the number or units affected. To this day, the 3rd and 4th tank brigades of the Ukrainian army operate around Kupyansk, as can be seen from several maps of the conflict, which show the positions of the two belligerents.
Koupiansk, a city that returned to Ukrainian control in the fall of 2022, lies at the northeastern end of the front line, at the end of a large combat zone 30 km wide and 100 km long, bounded by two rivers, the Oskil in the west and the Zherebets in the east, and which more or less follows the border of the Lugansk Oblast (administrative region, editor’s note), more than 95% of which is controlled by Moscow. Since the summer of 2023, Russian armed forces have been going on the offensive again to push the Ukrainians back to the right bank of the Oskil and, in particular, to bring the city of Koupiansk, located on this river, back under their control.
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The Russians harassed the Ukrainian defenses. They only advanced a few dozen square kilometers in a few months, but were unable to actually break through the enemy lines. On July 7, Ukrainians were alarmed about the situation. “The Russian occupier has concentrated more than 100,000 soldiers in the Lyman-Kopiansk zone and gathered more than 900 tanks,” warned Colonel Serhiy Cherevaty, spokesman for the Ukrainian Eastern Forces group, without it being possible to confirm this information from an independent source.
Despite all this, given the approximate order of battle in the region, it seems unlikely, if not impossible, that 31 Abrams tanks, even if they are more powerful than the Russian tanks facing them, could change the situation on the ground. The failed Ukrainian summer counteroffensive launched in June showed that the few dozen German Leopard 2 tanks were unable to break through the Russian defense lines. On the contrary, especially at the beginning of the battle, 22 of these heavy and modern tanks were destroyed or damaged by Kornet anti-tank missiles, Lancet kamikaze drones and Russian Ka-52 attack helicopters.
2500 Abrams in the US Army
Entered into service in 1981, the American M1A1 Abrams tank weighs 55 to 60 tons (compared to 45 to 50 tons for the Russian T-90 tanks) and is powered by a turbine rather than a classic diesel engine, making its logistics complex. Armed with a 120 mm cannon, it experienced its baptism of fire during the Gulf War in Iraq in 1991.
Within the US Army, starting in 1994, it was replaced by its further development, the M1A2 Abrams, which is characterized by increased weight (up to 67 tons), more advanced electronic and optical systems, reinforced armor with depleted uranium (already introduced on). the latest A1M1) or even an explosive reactive kit for urban combat. It was used primarily during the Iraq War from 2003 and during the war against Daesh in 2016. The American Army has a total of around 2,500 Abrams tanks (including 1,800 A1M2s), plus more than 3,000 A1M1s in reserve.
Read also: What American Abrams tanks will bring to the front in Ukraine
The USA has therefore not entrusted Ukraine with its most modern tanks, but they are not the oldest either. Because the two images allowed OSINT (“Open Source Intelligence” in French) specialists to identify the exact version of A1M1 that was delivered to Kiev. This is the A1M1 SA (for “Situational Awareness” in English), a modernized version of the original A1M1, which was launched in 2009 and, in addition to a reset of the tanks, also sees the addition of infrared sensors for locating distant targets. More modern communications equipment, including a 3D navigation system that identifies friendly tanks and a thermal imaging sight for the 50 mm caliber machine gun.
On the other hand, the tanks delivered to Ukraine have neither depleted uranium armor – this was expressly announced by the Americans – nor the explosive device. However, the latter would be particularly suitable for the Ukrainian environment, where anti-tank weapons are widespread. Finally, the delivered Abrams are not yet equipped with anti-drone protective cages to protect the towers from kamikaze drone attacks.
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