Several programmes for the supply of tanks to Ukraine are active as of autumn 2024.
These include relatively new Leo-2A4s being upgraded in two branches in cooperation with Spain, the Netherlands and Denmark, at German facilities – up to about 40 vehicles, as promised in the summer of 2024.
Additionally, they are receiving Kontakt-1 dynamic protection units, drone nets and electronic warfare systems already in Ukraine to meet current threats.
These are excellent tanks, which for obvious reasons cannot be in abundance – mainly because the new A8s are still being produced at 12-20 vehicles per year, albeit with a tendency to increase production.
There is also an active Danish initiative to buy up T-72s in the markets of Eastern Europe, Asia and Africa (conditionally Moroccan B), and then upgrade them at the facilities of the Czech Excalibur Army.
It has a digital radio station, a new, more powerful engine, and a thermal imager – a workhorse in the current situation, when there is no surplus of armoured vehicles on the market. In any case, it is a good vehicle capable of withstanding the most massive Russian tanks.
Moreover, we continue to receive the third generation of ATGMs, TOW-2s with upper hemisphere explosions, and British Brimstones – tanks do not have to fight tanks.
The transfer of Leopard 1A5DKs is ongoing – 70-80 of them have already been shipped under the programme from Denmark, Germany and the Netherlands. This allowed us to re-equip the 5th Tank Brigade, the first-stage reserve brigade, which existed only on paper and as a staffed unit before the war.
Now it has two Leo-1 battalions, which are equipped with dynamic protection such as Kontakt-1 and Knife to increase survival against anti-tank weapons. At one time, the Germans were working on dynamic armour for the first Leos, with the requirement to hold shells and Milan ATGMs, but it did not go into production, so we are here again looking for a solution blindly.
Sophisticated metal frames that allow us to stretch anti-drone nets over the tanks, in which the FPVs can get stuck, and camouflage that will allow us to “break the silhouette” of the vehicle, change its thermal signatures to confuse AI-controlled drones in the future.
The thermal imager, laser rangefinder and EMES-18 fire control system from the Leo-2 make this tank a difficult opponent, and the armour, when we have already returned to the point where it is not important, was also penetrated by everything that was available in the 70s and 80s.
Now there is talk of an Australian initiative to transfer Abrams of the previous modification, the M1A1SA. These 59 Australian vehicles are now being replaced with M1A2SEP v3, which were purchased in the amount of 75 units. Australia is preparing for a possible conflict in the Pacific region by training its ground forces, purchasing artillery and ballistic missiles, and modern tanks.
In turn, due to the modernisation and digitalisation of the towers in the US, the surplus can be sent to Ukraine to make them compatible with the previous batch. Of course, the rear services remain the Achilles’ heel of the Abrams – engineers and electronics specialists are not trained for it like hotcakes.
But it is possible to replenish an existing battalion that has suffered losses and form a new one. As of today, 6 vehicles have been irretrievably lost, 5 repairable and 3 fallen into enemy hands as a result of the fighting for Berdychi.
Despite the stories about “proving ineffective” and “being withdrawn”, the Abrams has been in combat for many months, and the crews are doing their main job, so the loss of crews is minimal.
In general, despite the fact that tanks have been “hidden” for several decades – first by tandem ATGMs, then by charges, helicopter-launched ATGMs, and now by drones – they remain a serious force on the battlefield.
This combination of manoeuvrability, reaction time, firepower and the ability to deal massive amounts of incoming damage is hard to replace at the current stage of technology development.
These beautiful images of the war of the future, where a Vampire drone carries a robot dog on a mission, pale in comparison to hundreds of kilometres of active frontline that needs to be controlled by infantry legs, a network of observation posts and strongholds.
And despite the weather, night, electronic warfare and disturbing fire, only tanks can provide reliable and fast assistance to the infantry.
This means we need them, and our partners understand this well.
Author: Kyrylo Danylchenko