The Ukrainian Armed Forces lost the first M-1 Abrams tank, - Forbes

The Ukrainian Armed Forces lost the first M-1 Abrams tank, - Forbes

For the first time, the Ukrainian army lost an American-made M-1 Abrams tank. This happened in the Avdiivka direction.

A Russian drone video that circulated online showed the drone hunting one of these tanks west of Avdiivka, Forbes writes. One of the frames shows the same tank, but already on fire, apparently as a result of a drone strike.

“This was inevitable. Two years after the start of the full-scale war of the Russian Federation against Ukraine, kamikaze drones and quadcopters have become one of the biggest threats to armored vehicles. They can strike where the vehicle’s armor is the thinnest: on the roof,” the publication writes.

Russian drone video confirms the drone struck the Abrams’ thin armored roof, causing an internal fire that likely destroyed the vehicle. It is unclear whether the four crew members managed to escape.

The publication advised not to share Russian euphoria over the destruction of this one tank, since not a single 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," the publication explained.

But even Strv 122, the publication writes, 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 that was not destroyed by the invaders on the front line was the German-made Leopard 1A5. But it’s only a matter of time, the publication noted, until the drone tracks down the Leopard 1A5.