But the battlefield has changed substantially since then, notably by the ubiquitous use of Russian surveillance drones and hunter-killer drones.
Those weapons have made it more difficult for Ukraine to protect the tanks when they are quickly detected and hunted by Russian drones or rounds.
Five of the 31 tanks have already been lost to Russian attacks.
The official spoke on the condition of anonymity to provide an update on U.S. weapons support for Ukraine before Friday’s Ukraine Defense Contact Group meeting.
While drones are a significant threat, the Ukrainians also have not adopted tactics that could have made the tanks more effective, one of the U.S. defense officials said.
After announcing it would provide Ukraine the Abrams tanks in January 2023, the U.S. began training Ukrainians at Grafenwoehr Army base in Germany that spring on how to maintain and operate them.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced on his Telegram channel in September that the Abrams had arrived in Ukraine.
During its recent withdrawal from Avdiivka, a city in eastern Ukraine that was the focus of intense fighting for months, several tanks were lost to Russian attacks, the official said.
Ukraine has excluded the U.S. s. -provided Abrams M1A1 battle tanks for the time being in its conflict with Russia, partly due to Russian drone warfare making it too difficult for them to operate covertly or without being attacked, two U.S. s. The Associated Press was informed by military officials.
The USA. S. vowed to send 31 Abrams to Ukraine in January 2023 following a vigorous, multi-month campaign by Kyiv in which it contended that the tanks, which were estimated to cost $10 million each, were essential to its capacity to breach Russian lines.
However, a lot has changed in the battlefield since then, most notably the widespread use of Russian drones for surveillance and hunting. Because of those weapons, Ukraine finds it more challenging to defend the tanks from Russian drones or rounds that are swiftly detecting and pursuing them.
Attacks by the Russians have already claimed five of the thirty-one tanks.
There “isn’t open ground that you can just drive across without fear of detection” due to the proliferation of drones on the Ukrainian battlefield, a senior defense official told reporters on Thursday.
The official gave an update on U.S. affairs while speaking on the condition of anonymity. S. Prior to the Ukraine Defense Contact Group meeting on Friday, arms support was provided to Ukraine.
The tanks have currently been removed from the front lines, and the U.S. S. Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. will collaborate with the Ukrainians to rethink tactics. Christopher Grady and a third defense official who, under anonymity restrictions, confirmed the move.
In an interview this week, Grady told the AP, “When you think about the way the fight has evolved, massed armor in an environment where unmanned aerial systems are ubiquitous can be at risk,” while emphasizing the continued importance of tanks.
“It’s possible to do it now,” he declared. “In this altered environment, where everything is visible right away, we’ll collaborate with our Ukrainian partners as well as other local partners to help them consider how they might use that.”. “.
The tanks’ layoffs are announced as the U. S. commemorates the second anniversary of the formation of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group, an alliance comprising roughly 50 nations that meets once a month to evaluate the needs of Ukraine’s armed forces and determines where to obtain ammunition, supplies, and repairs.
A larger reset for Ukrainian forces in the changing conflict is also reflected in recent aid packages, such as the $1 billion military assistance package signed by President Joe Biden on Wednesday.
The US. S. is anticipated to declare on Friday that it will also offer the United States and Ukraine roughly $6 billion in long-term military assistance. s. According to officials, it will contain highly sought-after ammunition for Patriot air defense systems. Under anonymity, the officials discussed details that have not yet been released to the public.
The $1 billion package focused on counter-drone capabilities, such as modifications to .50-caliber rounds to specifically counter drone systems; more ammunition and air defenses; and a variety of less expensive but alternative vehicles, such as mine-resistant ambush protected vehicles, Bradley infantry fighting vehicles, and Humvees.
The USA. s. Additionally, it made official its first confirmation of supplying long-range ballistic missiles, or ATACMs, to Ukraine. These missiles enable the country to strike deep into areas under Russian occupation without having to advance and risk being detected by drones or coming under further fire from Russian defenses.
Even though drones pose a serious threat, the Ukrainians haven’t adopted any strategies that could have increased the tanks’ effectiveness, according to one of the U. S. defense officials stated.
Following its declaration that it would supply Ukraine with Abrams tanks in January 2023, the U.S. s. started instructing Ukrainians in their upkeep and operation at the Grafenwoehr Army base in Germany that spring. The tanks are used in combined arms warfare, where they are coordinated with infantry units, air support, and overhead offensive fires to advance as a system of advancing armored forces. This is something they also taught the Ukrainians how to do.
Moving from tank training in Germany to deploying Abrams on the battlefield was considered essential to breaching heavily fortified Russian lines as the spring went on and Ukraine’s much awaited counteroffensive faltered. September saw the announcement of the arrival of the Abrams by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on his Telegram channel.
The defense official stated that since then, Ukraine has only occasionally used them and has not included combined arms warfare into its operations.
According to the official, Russia attacked several tanks that the Ukrainian army was withdrawing from Avdiivka, a city in eastern Ukraine that saw fierce fighting for months.
Because of Congress’ protracted holdup in approving fresh funding for Ukraine, its armed forces were forced to limit their ammunition supply and occasionally could only retaliate once for every five or more times that Russian forces targeted them.
