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.
How is that any surprise on modern battlefield? Compared to the situation decade(s) ago, tank is just a prey with so much real time reconnaissance drones and long range precision weapons around.
From what I’ve read the main difference between tanks like Abrams/Leopard 2 and old designs like T-72/80/Leopard 1 is that once modern tank is knocked out/damaged/destroyed it doesn’t necessarily mean all the crew members are dead.
The big advantages that T-72/80 have over western tanks is that they’re much lighter meaning that they don’t get stuck in mud as easily, they’re easier to repair, and they have autoloaders reducing crew size.
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.
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.
Leopard 2 entered production in 1979. Abrams entered service in 1981. They are just as old
That’s why I wrote “new/old design”. T-72 and 80 are vastly improved, but still based more or less on design of T-54.