Abrams tanks, which the American military will supply to Ukraine, are much better than any tanks that Russia has, according to Ruslan Pukhov, a military expert and director of the Center for Analysis of Strategies and Technologies in Moscow, Insider quotes.

“Even in its export variants, the Abrams M1A2 v.2 variant is superior to any Russian tank in production,” Pukhov told the Moscow Komsomolets newspaper.

He explained that Russian tanks now use “old” Soviet-made shells that are capable of destroying combat vehicles from relatively short distances, such as the T-64, T-72 and T-80 models, inherited from several countries neighboring Russia , in particular Ukraine. , after the collapse of the Soviet Union.

But Pukhov notes that the appearance on the battlefield of Western tanks with powerful main guns, modern armor-piercing projectiles and fire control systems can lead to a sudden increase in the distance between tanks during their confrontation.

“We could be at a disadvantage in such a matchup,” said a Russian military expert, also warning that Russia lacks third-generation anti-tank systems, such as Javelin launchers, which the Ukrainian military has received from the United States.

Russia has no modern anti-tank launchers

Russia has in its arsenal the Kornet man-portable anti-tank launcher, which uses laser-guided missiles, but Moscow’s forces have few such weapons. Instead, most of the Russian anti-tank arsenal consists of the Fagot and Konkur systems, which entered service with the Soviet armed forces in the 1970s.

However, in an interview with the Moscow Komsomol, Pukhov cautiously noted that the M1A2, a more modern and deadly version of the Abrams tanks, was superior to Russian tanks in production. That is, not the T-14 “Armata” tank, which has not yet appeared in Ukraine.

A few years ago, this tank caused fears in the West that it might be better than similar combat vehicles of NATO countries, but recently its capabilities have become something of an urban legend, given that Russia announced it 8 years ago, but in the meantime failed to start mass production.

In its assessment of the war in Ukraine, published on January 25 this year, the UK Ministry of Defense noted that Russia had prepared a small number of T-14 Armata main battle tanks to be sent to troops in Ukraine for the first operational deployment. model.

T-14 Armata tank, Russian “phantom” weapon.

However, an assessment based on London-based military intelligence said that in recent months the invasion force had been reluctant to accept the first tranche of T-14s allocated to them because the machines were in such poor condition.

It is unclear exactly what aspects of the machines caused this reaction, but for the past three years, Russian officials have publicly stated problems with the T-14’s engine and thermal imaging systems. In 2021, Defense Minister Serhiy Shoigu called the production planned for 2022 only a “research and industrial” batch.

Therefore, it is unlikely that the deployed T-14 tanks met the usual standards for the new equipment to be considered combat-ready.

Ruslan Pukhov also stated in an interview that currently the number of Western tanks promised to Ukraine is too small for them to play a decisive role on the battlefield, this point of view is also expressed by some Western military analysts.

US President Joe Biden announced on January 25 that his administration would send 31 Abrams tanks to Ukraine, shortly after Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced that Berlin would supply Kyiv’s armed forces with German-made Leopard 2 tanks.

Scholz also stated that his government will also authorize the transfer of these combat vehicles to partner countries that want to send them to Ukraine. Several Western nations later announced that they would do so.

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