Major change on the front line. Russian drone supremacy forces Ukraine and US to reset tactics

Ukraine has moved U.S.-supplied Abrams M1A1 battle tanks from the front lines, largely because of the large number of Russian drones that make it too difficult to operate them without being detected or attacked, two U.S. military officials told The Associated Press. writes News.ro. In this context, the US will work with the Ukrainians to reset the tactics on the battlefield.

In January 2023, the US agreed to send 31 Abrams tanks to Ukraine after months of aggressive campaigning by Kiev, which argued that the tanks, which cost about $10 million apiece, were vital to its ability to to break the Russian lines.

But the battlefield has changed substantially since then, particularly with the ubiquitous use of Russian surveillance drones and attack drones.

These weapons have made it more difficult for Ukraine to protect tanks when they are detected and quickly hunted down by Russian drones or missiles.

Five of the 31 tanks have already been lost to Russian attacks.

The proliferation of drones on the Ukrainian battlefield means “there is no longer any open ground you can cross without fear of detection,” a senior defense official said Thursday.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity to provide an update on US arms support for Ukraine ahead of Friday’s meeting of the Contact Group on the Defense of Ukraine.

The US and Ukraine are changing tactics

For now, the tanks have been moved from the front line, and the U.S. will work with the Ukrainians to reset tactics, said Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Christopher Grady, and a third defense official, who confirmed the move on condition of anonymity.

“When you think about how combat has evolved, massive armor in an environment where unmanned aerial systems are ubiquitous can be at risk,” Grady told the AP in an interview this week, adding that tanks are still important.

“Now, there is a way to do that,” he said. “We’re going to work with our Ukrainian partners and other partners on the ground to help them think about how they might use them, in this of a changed environment now, where everything is seen immediately,” the official explained.

News of the sidelined tanks comes as the US marks two years since the formation of the Contact Group for the Defense of Ukraine, a coalition of about 50 countries that meets monthly to assess Ukraine’s battlefield needs and identify where to find the ammunition, weapons or maintenance necessary to keep Ukrainian troops equipped.

Recent aid packages, including the $1 billion military aid package signed Wednesday by President Joe Biden, also reflect a broader reset for Ukrainian forces in the ongoing fight.

Long-term aid for Ukraine

The U.S. is expected to announce on Friday that it will also provide about $6 billion in long-term military aid to Ukraine, U.S. officials said, adding that the package will include much-sought-after munitions for Patriot air defense systems.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss details that have not yet been made public.

The $1 billion package emphasizes anti-drone capabilities, including .50-caliber bullets specially modified to counter drone systems; anti-aircraft defense and additional ammunition; and a number of alternative and cheaper vehicles, including Humvees, Bradley infantry fighting vehicles, and mine-resistant ambush-protected vehicles.

The US also confirmed for the first time that it is supplying long-range ballistic missiles, known as ATACMS, which allow Ukraine to strike deep into Russian-held areas without having to advance and be further exposed to either the detection of drones, either at Russia’s fortified defenses.

Ukraine has made little use of Abrams tanks

While the drones pose a significant threat, the Ukrainians have not adopted tactics that could have made the tanks more effective, one US defense official said.

After announcing that it would supply Ukraine with Abrams tanks in January 2023, the US that spring began training Ukrainians at the Grafenwoehr military base in Germany on how to maintain and operate them.

They also taught the Ukrainians how to use them in combined arms warfare – in which tanks operate as part of an advancing armored force system, coordinating movements with offensive aerial fire, infantry and air assets.

As the spring progressed and Ukraine’s much-anticipated counteroffensive stalled, the shift from tank training in Germany to bringing the Abrams to the battlefield was seen as an imperative to breach Russian fortified lines.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced in September that Abrams tanks had arrived in Ukraine.

Since then, however, Ukraine has used them only to a limited extent and has not made combined arms warfare part of its operations, the defense official said.

Abrams battle tanks, lost during the withdrawal from Avdiivka

During its recent withdrawal from Avdiivka, a town in eastern Ukraine that has been the center of intense fighting for months, several tanks were lost to Russian attacks, the official said.

The long delay in Congress in passing new funding for Ukraine meant that its forces had to ration ammunition and in some cases could only fight back once every five or more attacks when targeted by Russian forces .

In Avdiivka, Ukrainian forces were heavily outgunned and fought back against Russian hover bombs and fighter drones with little ammunition left.