Forbes about the loss of the Armed Forces of the Abrams tank (video)

The Ukrainian army lost an American-made M-1 Abrams tank for the first time during the battles in the Avdiivka direction. Forbes notes that all tanks are vulnerable to attacks above.

In a video circulating online, a drone is hunting for one of the Abrams west of Avdievka, writes edition. One of the frames shows the same tank, but already on fire, apparently as a result of a drone strike.

Video confirms that the drone struck the Abrams’ thin armored roof, causing an internal fire that likely destroyed the vehicle. The footage did not record whether the four crew members managed to escape.

However, Forbes does not share the Russian euphoria over the destruction of this one tank, since no tank in the world is actually invulnerable:

“Almost all tanks are especially vulnerable to attacks from above. There is only one exception: the Swedish Strv 122, which has additional armor on the roof of the turret.”

But even the Strv 122 is not protected from enemy fire. The Ukrainian Armed Forces received 10 such tanks from Sweden, and at least one of them has already been lost.

The only Western type of tank, none of which was destroyed on the front line, is the German Leopard 1A5. Although, the publication notes, it is, of course, a matter of time – even he is not immune from drones.

In the fall of 2023, the Ukrainian Armed Forces received 31 Abrams from the United States. This is a 2000s model with tungsten armor, side blocks of M-19 dynamic protection, a 120-mm smoothbore gun and high-precision day-night optics. The equipment was received by the 47th Mechanized Brigade, which mainly used the best American-made Ukrainian armored vehicles, including M-2 combat vehicles and Assault Breacher mine-clearing vehicles.