Ukrainian officials have commended the M1 Abrams tank’s resilience on the battlefield.
When it comes to tank lethality, the American-made Abrams family of armored vehicles arguably takes the cake. The tried and trusted main battle tank (MBT) series has served the armored corps for decades, providing a combination of protection, firepower, and mobility to U.S. troops in combat. While the concept of MBTs has been around for nearly a century, tanks have seen a resurgence in relevance in the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine. Both sides’ use of Soviet-era and more modern tank series proves that the age of the armored vehicle has not yet come to an end.
An Overview of the M1 Abrams
The M1 Abrams tank series was conceptualized in a post-World War II U.S.-West German collaborative effort to field a joint MBT. American officials wanted to replace the U.S. M60 platform while the Germans desired a successor for their Leopard 1. Down the line, however, the United States went its separate way to create a fully homegrown tank series.
The basis of the Abrams platform would come to fruition in the 1970s. Particularly interested in enhanced protection measures, the new MBTs were modeled with Chobham armor. This incredibly thick material was designed to perform extremely well against HEAT rounds and other shaped charges. In addition to the thick armor, the Abrams sported a 120mm main gun, armor-piercing capabilities, a 1,500-horsepower turbine engine, and advanced tracking systems. The Abrams tanks made their first deployment debut in the Middle East as part of the War on Terror in the early 2000s, conducting thunder runs to break through Iraqi defenses.
How Are the Abrams Performing in Ukraine?
While the M1 Abrams variant was top-of-the-line when first introduced to service decades ago, the original model in use in Ukraine is not as impervious. The Biden administration greenlit the delivery of dozens of M1 Abrams tanks to Ukraine over the last few years in order to beef up Kyiv’s defensive efforts. While Ukrainian officials have commended the tank’s resilience on the battlefield, necessary modifications have been incorporated into the delivered tanks in order to adapt them to be able to survive in drone-heavy environments.
Last year, a video depicting an FPV drone attack striking an Abrams was posted on a Russian telegram channel. Even though the tank was not functioning following the strike and took multiple hits during that attack, the entire crew survived without injury due to the Abrams’ top-notch protection measures. As explained by The War Zone, “The Abrams was designed with so-called blowout panels on top of the turret. The panels are fitted over the ammunition storage compartment at the rear of the turret. They are designed to help vent the force of any explosion upward and away from the crew in the event the tank is struck in such a way that causes the shells onboard to detonate. “
The United States has fielded multiple successor variants to the M1 Abrams over the years, all incorporated with more enhanced technology and features to give them an edge over competing platforms.
About the Author: Maya Carlin
Maya Carlin, National Security Writer with The National Interest, is an analyst with the Center for Security Policy and a former Anna Sobol Levy Fellow at IDC Herzliya in Israel. She has by-lines in many publications, including The National Interest, Jerusalem Post, and Times of Israel. You can follow her on Twitter: @MayaCarlin. Carlin has over 1,000 articles published over the last several years on various defense issues.
Image: DVIDS.
