M1A1SA Tanks Enter Combat In Ukraine
Russia’s ongoing offensive is seeing incremental gains with continued efforts looking to capitalise on the fall of Avdiivka. The situation has seen Ukrainian forces in the region stretched and necessitated the deployment of fresh units major. One of the units deployed in the region late last year was the 47th Mechanized Brigade, one of Ukraine’s best equipped brigades. Equipped with Western vehicles and kit, it also operates the M1A1SA Abrams Main Battle Tanks – the first of which has been reportedly destroyed by Russian forces.
The 47th Mechanized Brigade recently posted the first combat footage of the Abrams in action. The batch of 31 M1A1SA Abrams MBT was delivered to the Ukrainians in the second half of 2023 as a part of a wider coalition of countries aiding Kyiv with heavy weapons. Countries like Germany, the UK, and Poland aided Ukraine with battalions worth of vehicles and equipment prior to the Summer Offensive of 2023. Leopard 2A4 & A6 along with Challenger 2 and the aforementioned M1A1 Abrams were sent to Ukraine.
The very short clip, shared by the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense, shows a lone Abrams moving on a road before engaging targets. Thermal camera footage then shows shell detonations down range.
Despite an orderly retreat, the lack of solid defenses behind the Avdiivka line caught the ZSU in the open. Russian forces conducted a swift pursuit following the retreating soldiers. Under such circumstances, the 47th Mechanized Brigade entered the battle with a complete battalion of M1A1SA. When the footage was recorded is unclear but according to the information posted by the brigade’s officials, the M1A1 tanks have been used in combat for over a month now. On 26 February, Russian Telegram channels began sharing low-resolution UAV footage of what is said to be an M1A1SA that was damaged/destroyed by the Russian 15th Separate Motorized Rifle Brigade. The imagery has not yet been independently verified.
The situation for the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the Donbas region is critical as the Ukrainians need to quickly stabilize the front and prevent further exploitation of recent successes by the Russian Armed Forces. Introduction of fresh reserves, and high value assets like the Abrams, illustrate the seriousness of the situation.