Summary and Key Points: Western military equipment, particularly the U.S.-supplied M1 Abrams tanks, has been crucial to Ukraine's defense against Russian forces. However, the Abrams tanks have faced significant challenges on the battlefield.

-Out of the 31 tanks provided by the U.S., many have been destroyed by Russian forces using drones and advanced anti-tank weapons like the Kornet missile.

-Incidents include tanks being hit by drones igniting ammunition compartments, and missiles penetrating side armor. As a result, Ukraine temporarily sidelined the Abrams tanks to reassess tactics.

-Despite efforts to adapt, recent reports confirm the destruction of additional Abrams tanks, leading to a dwindling fleet.

M1 Abrams Tanks Struggle in Ukraine: Russian Forces Destroy Multiple Units

Western military equipment is commonly understood to be the lifeblood of Ukraine’s resistance against the Russian invaders. America in particular has gifted billions of dollars’ worth of military equipment, including the F-16 Fighting Falcon, Javelin anti-tank missiles, and the M1 Abrams. 

Not all of the equipment that America has sent to the war has fared all that well. Take the M1 Abrams for example. The Americans sent Ukraine 31 Abrams, but the Russians have found moderate success in destroying the venerable tank. Multiple Abrams losses were recorded through the earlier portion of 2024. And in both July and August, Russian forces have succeeded in destroying Abrams tanks.

M1 Abrams: Tanks Struggling to Survive

The M1 Abrams is a capable tank. But the Russo-Ukraine War has featured some of the most vicious fighting on the European continent since the conclusion of World War II. The fighting has been described as a grind, a war of attrition along established front lines – the type of fighting where you might expect to see tanks fall.

As Forbes reported last spring, Ukraine’s 47 Brigade “lost its first M-1 on or before Feb. 26, when a Russian first-person-view drone struck the tank’s ammunition compartment and sparked a fire that ultimately destroyed it.” Forbes hypothesized that the tank’s blast door might have been open, thus allowing flames to enter the ammunition compartment and setting off the ammunition stores. 

The incident would hardly mark the end of the Abrams’s troubles, however. “The second Abrams got knocked out on or before March 3 – this time reportedly by a Kornet laser-guided anti-tank missile that hit the relatively thinly-protected side of the tank’s hull and passed right through the attached M-19 explosive reactor armor.” The Kornet is designed with two warheads, the first destroys the tank’s armor while the second passes through the compromised armor, and explodes inside the tank. 

Just one week after the Kornet missiles destroyed the Abrams, a third Abrams fell in the field – also from an anti-tank strike, “which sparked a fire that cooked off the main gun rounds in the ammo compartment,” Forbes reported, while offering that “the blast doors and the compartment’s exterior blowout panel must have failed.”

In April, after Russia destroyed two more Abrams, Ukraine pulled the tank from the frontlines.

“Ukraine has sidelines U.S.-provided Abrams M1A1 battle tanks for now,” NPR reported, “in part because Russian drone warfare has made it too difficult for [the Abrams] to operate without detection or coming under attack.”

Joint Chiefs of Staff Vice Chairman Adm. Christopher Grady commented that “When you think about the way the fight has evolved, massed armor in an environment where unmanned aerial systems are ubiquitous can be at risk.” Grady set about, alongside his Ukrainian counterparts, to rework Abrams tactics.

The renewed tactics have not worked to spare the Abrams, however. Recent footage confirms that two more Abrams were recently destroyed, meaning that the Ukrainian Abrams fleet is dwindling fast.

About the Author: Harrison Kass 

Harrison Kass is a defense and national security writer with over 1,000 total pieces on issues involving global affairs. An attorney, pilot, guitarist, and minor pro hockey player, Harrison joined the US Air Force as a Pilot Trainee but was medically discharged. Harrison holds a BA from Lake Forest College, a JD from the University of Oregon, and an MA from New York University. Harrison listens to Dokken.

Image Credit: Creative Commons.