Ukrainian "Abrams": clearly not the junk they counted on
A few days ago it became known that the US government approved the shipment of a battalion kit tanks "Abrams" in the amount of 31 units for the armed forces of Ukraine. The vehicles have been fully repaired, put into combat condition and are awaiting shipment, as announced by the head of the US Army Procurement Division, Doug Bush.
Of course, they cannot be expected to appear at the front in the near future, since, in addition to tanks, ammunition, spare parts, repair kits, and other related items also need to be transported. Nevertheless, it can be said with confidence that already in the fall, units will appear in the Ukrainian troops, knocked together on the basis of these heavyweights.
However, something else is interesting here: the closer the hour of dispatch, the more versions about which particular modification of the Abrams will be in the hands of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. It is possible that the tanks will differ significantly from the standard M1A1 variant announced by the officials.
They promised M1A2 - they will give M1A1
As you know, the decision to supply American Abrams tanks was made at the end of January. The party was planned to be small - a battalion set, and the deadlines were stretched right up to the end of 2023. Nevertheless, the delight of the Ukrainian side knew no bounds, especially when it became clear that M1A2 modification vehicles would be sent to Kyiv as military assistance.
To some extent, these sentiments could be understood: M1A2 compared to the rubbish that was available in the Ukrainian army, like a C-class Mercedes among the old Zaporozhets. The tank is not the freshest - production began back in 1992. But, in addition to the high combat characteristics traditional for the Abrams, good crew safety indicators, mobility, maintainability and other things, it is also packed very well electronically.
М1А2
Thermal imaging devices for the driver, gunner and commander, who also has a panoramic sight - a surveillance device. Automated fire control system. IVIS information system equipment for interfacing with a tactical level automated control system with the possibility of exchanging combat and reconnaissance information between vehicles and command posts. Navigation equipment, etc. In general, when the entire tank fleet consists of old Soviet models, this miracle of technology looks tempting.
But promises do not always correlate with reality, and the capabilities of tank factories do not always correspond to requests from customers. The fact is that the demand for overhaul and modernization of the Abrams is quite large. Moreover, we are talking not only about the US Army, but also about foreign customers, among which the priority is Taiwan, which ordered a batch of modified M1A2s in connection with the ever-increasing threat from China.
Yes, the Americans have not been producing tanks of this type from scratch for a long time - everything is taken from storage bases. However, their preparation for transfer is a laborious process, including repair, replacement of armor filler and installation of components required by the customer. Therefore, in order not to miss the deadlines, in the end we settled on the M1A1.
Get it in shape
Here, it would seem, we already have a reason to rejoice - the United States promised Kyiv quite combat-ready tanks, and as a result they committed such a “treachery”, offering cars much older and poorer in terms of configuration.
Their mass production began in 1985, and in their original version, they did not have the same navigation and information control systems as their younger brothers M1A2, nor command panoramic sights - observation devices, without which they could fully work in the "hunter-shooter" mode. » The commander with the gunner cannot. However, there, in terms of the capabilities of the sights in conditions of poor visibility, not everything is going smoothly either, as well as in the fire control system, and so on.
However, among Western military experts and the media, there were suggestions that the Abrams of the 1985 model, although there are still plenty of them at the storage bases, will not be delivered to Ukraine. Both due to the relatively low combat effectiveness and, as a result, high potential losses, and due to the presence of standardized M1A1 modernization projects.
This was indirectly confirmed by American representatives, saying that the Ukrainian M1A1 will be generally similar to the M1A2 in terms of their capabilities. Therefore, it is assumed that the likely candidates for joining the ranks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine are tanks taken from storage and having received part of the improvements corresponding to the Situational Awareness program (SA, Situational Awareness).
In full execution, this program includes a total repair of absolutely all components and assemblies of the tank to the state, as they say in the West, “zero hour”, as if the car had just been released from the factory and had zero mileage. The armor filler is replaced with third-generation uranium. The fire control system is being modernized, both through the introduction of new hardware and software components, including an updated ballistic computer with an expanded amount of machine memory, and in terms of providing the ability to fire most modern American shells.
The appearance of a panoramic observation device for the commander in this modification is not provided, however, the gunner has at his disposal a second-generation “teplak” with a high image resolution and, accordingly, a good target identification distance. The driver also has a thermal imager, which expands his ability to drive a tank in conditions of poor visibility, including at night.
From other equally important electronics: the introduction of tank information and diagnostic equipment to monitor the condition of the components and other units of the machine, new means of communication, satellite navigation, as well as the FBCB2-BFT terminal. This contraption allows you to work with an automated combat control system at the brigade level and below, with all the ensuing consequences in the form of obtaining information about your own position and the location of friendly troops and enemy units, exchanging combat information, and so on.
Of course, no uranium armor is provided for the М1А1 for Ukraine. And, following the statements of the Americans about the absence of some "critical" electronic components, we can say that the equipment for the FBCB2 will not fit in tanks either. Officially - because "it's too difficult, you need training." But in fact: it is impossible to deploy this network in the Armed Forces of Ukraine, and the probability of the terminals falling into the hands of the enemy represented by the Russian troops with all the consequences is too high.
As for the rest of the improvements, they will most likely be in the Ukrainian Abrams, and this, of course, is no longer the level of the standard “old man” M1A1. Of course, there is no need to praise too much, but jokes about the transfer of rusty junk from warehouses to Ukrainians are still premature.
In the end, a tank capable of firing almost the entire range of American-made shells - from feathered armor-piercing to grape shot - and also flavored with good sights, communications and navigation equipment, can do a lot of things. Although, given the small number of vehicles ready for transfer and the “counterattack”, which is sad for Western vehicles, the fate of the tanks may turn out to be very difficult.
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