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The Once-Dominant Tank Is Getting Humbled on the Battlefield (www.wsj.com)

submitted 1 month ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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Of the 31 Abrams tanks the U.S. sent to Ukraine, six have been destroyed, according to Oryx, an independent analyst group that tracks casualties. The rest are now used only occasionally. At $10 million apiece, tanks like the Abrams are not easily replaced. Among other Western tanks sent to Ukraine, 12 of the 18 latest-model German Leopards have been destroyed or damaged, according to Oryx.

As soon as you get on the road, a drone spots you, and then you're being hit with artillery, mines, anti-tank missiles, drones, guided bombs," said a Ukrainian driver of one of the Abrams tanks whose call sign is Smilik.

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[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Autoloader is both advantage and disadvantage at the same time. You don't need another crew member, but the mechanism proved itself to be deadly when tanks get hit.

The weight itself is a huge factor though. Modern tanks get to absurd numbers where it's getting difficult to operate them at all.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 month ago

From what we've seen, when any tank gets hit that tends to be fatal. Drones in particular tend to hit weak areas that cause munitions to explode.