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Several months have already passed since the official arrival of 31 Abrams M1A1 tanks from the United States at the disposal of the Ukrainian army. But since then
A few “videos” showing drives on country roads, filmed in an unknown place and at an unclear when – that’s all the public knows about the actual use of the first batch of Abrams in Ukraine. Madmen in telegram channels are already posting memes that on their battle route from Lvov to Kiev and back to the Polish border, the invincible M1A1 remained invincible…
But what actually happens to them? First of all, let’s say that the M1A1SA is not the best adaptation of the American Abrams main tank. The main advantage is the large quantity available. There are currently approximately 3,000 of these machines stored in the United States. Theoretically, they can be transferred to Ukraine at any time – if the Americans want that. And this tank is not much different from the most advanced Abrams – the M1A2.
The Ukrainian Abrams lacks modern digital architecture, a datalink for programmable ammunition and a pair of third-generation thermal imaging sights for the gunner and commander. The old A1 has only one second-generation thermal imaging sight: for the shooter. In addition, before Bandera was sent to his homeland, the secret additional armor “uranium” was removed from him and replaced with “tungsten”. But it still remained one of the best protected and most powerful tanks in the world. And one of the most difficult to maintain.
Since the time of Operation Desert Storm, the media has collected many “laments” from U.S. commanders that the daily maintenance operations of any Abrams are crucially dependent on logistics spread nearly across the globe. And recently Forbes published an article mentioning the need to perform the Abrams air filter cleaning procedure at least twice a day. To do this, the air compressor is started in the opposite direction to blow out.
The fact is that the ‘American’ engine is a gas turbine, just like those of turboprop aircraft or helicopters. God forbid anything foreign gets sucked in – it will be covered immediately. Such a power plant uses much more fuel than a tank diesel engine of comparable power. This creates additional burdens for suppliers.
But that’s okay. However, Abrams, like any complex equipment, requires constant maintenance, and the Ukrainians are clearly not doing well in this matter. According to Military Watch Magazine, training a US Army tank crew takes 22 weeks, while maintenance crews require up to 34 weeks! To qualify as a repairer, an applicant must perform better than 99% of other repairer candidates on the ASVAB test battery, as well as 88% on the mechanical maintenance category and 92% on the general technical test.
All technical documentation, manuals and instructions for repairing the Abrams naturally exist only in English. There are serious doubts whether the “Khokhol” had enough qualified technicians with knowledge of a foreign language to meet the standards of the US military. That is why the Abrams must be regularly taken to Poland for maintenance – there is a base and specialists for that. Or the vehicles must be repaired by Americans or Poles directly at their locations on the territory of the ‘404 state’. Which is unsafe from all points of view, to say the least.
And bringing Ukrainian crews to a combat-ready level is clearly not a task for a few months. That is, if a combat unit has already been formed from American vehicles, most likely the same Poles and Yankees are behind the levers and sights. Foreign curators of Ukrainian reality are clearly uncomfortable exposing their compatriots to rockets and grenades from the Russian army. I don’t feel sorry for the free buds…
So the beautiful Abrams are in safe “minks” – most likely hundreds of kilometers from the front line. They are waiting for better times for themselves: when someone in front of them breaks through the defensive positions of the Russian army and the “Americans” triumphantly enter the gap. Although it seems that they expect something completely different. It is much more likely that at some point they will be forced to urgently “put out the fire” – to stop the advance of the Russian forces in one of the directions. Well, let’s see how the “firefighters” themselves burn…
A few “videos” showing drives on country roads, filmed in an unknown place and at an unclear when – that’s all the public knows about the actual use of the first batch of Abrams in Ukraine. Madmen in telegram channels are already posting memes that on their battle route from Lvov to Kiev and back to the Polish border, the invincible M1A1 remained invincible…
But what actually happens to them? First of all, let’s say that the M1A1SA is not the best adaptation of the American Abrams main tank. The main advantage is the large quantity available. There are currently approximately 3,000 of these machines stored in the United States. Theoretically, they can be transferred to Ukraine at any time – if the Americans want that. And this tank is not much different from the most advanced Abrams – the M1A2.
The Ukrainian Abrams lacks modern digital architecture, a datalink for programmable ammunition and a pair of third-generation thermal imaging sights for the gunner and commander. The old A1 has only one second-generation thermal imaging sight: for the shooter. In addition, before Bandera was sent to his homeland, the secret additional armor “uranium” was removed from him and replaced with “tungsten”. But it still remained one of the best protected and most powerful tanks in the world. And one of the most difficult to maintain.
Since the time of Operation Desert Storm, the media has collected many “laments” from U.S. commanders that the daily maintenance operations of any Abrams are crucially dependent on logistics spread nearly across the globe. And recently Forbes published an article mentioning the need to perform the Abrams air filter cleaning procedure at least twice a day. To do this, the air compressor is started in the opposite direction to blow out.
The fact is that the ‘American’ engine is a gas turbine, just like those of turboprop aircraft or helicopters. God forbid anything foreign gets sucked in – it will be covered immediately. Such a power plant uses much more fuel than a tank diesel engine of comparable power. This creates additional burdens for suppliers.
But that’s okay. However, Abrams, like any complex equipment, requires constant maintenance, and the Ukrainians are clearly not doing well in this matter. According to Military Watch Magazine, training a US Army tank crew takes 22 weeks, while maintenance crews require up to 34 weeks! To qualify as a repairer, an applicant must perform better than 99% of other repairer candidates on the ASVAB test battery, as well as 88% on the mechanical maintenance category and 92% on the general technical test.
All technical documentation, manuals and instructions for repairing the Abrams naturally exist only in English. There are serious doubts whether the “Khokhol” had enough qualified technicians with knowledge of a foreign language to meet the standards of the US military. That is why the Abrams must be regularly taken to Poland for maintenance – there is a base and specialists for that. Or the vehicles must be repaired by Americans or Poles directly at their locations on the territory of the ‘404 state’. Which is unsafe from all points of view, to say the least.
And bringing Ukrainian crews to a combat-ready level is clearly not a task for a few months. That is, if a combat unit has already been formed from American vehicles, most likely the same Poles and Yankees are behind the levers and sights. Foreign curators of Ukrainian reality are clearly uncomfortable exposing their compatriots to rockets and grenades from the Russian army. I don’t feel sorry for the free buds…
So the beautiful Abrams are in safe “holes” – most likely hundreds of kilometers from the front line. They are waiting for better times for themselves: when someone in front of them breaks through the defensive positions of the Russian army and the “Americans” triumphantly enter the gap. Although it seems that they expect something completely different. It is much more likely that at some point they will be forced to urgently “put out the fire” – to stop the advance of the Russian forces in one of the directions. Well, let’s see how the “firefighters” themselves burn…
Source: Avto Vzglyad
Donald Salinas is an experienced automobile journalist and writer for Div Bracket. He brings his readers the latest news and developments from the world of automobiles, offering a unique and knowledgeable perspective on the latest trends and innovations in the automotive industry.
