The United States promised to deliver 31 M1 tanks to Ukraine in August or September, and the Ukrainian army hopes to use these tanks against the Russian army this fall, according to the global network. American "Politico"** said that these tanks will bring "new lethality" to the offensive of the Ukrainian army and break the long-term defense of the Russian army.
However, the expectations of the United States may be wishful thinking. Whether the M1 tank can play a role on the battlefield in Ukraine depends on the tactics and strategy of the Ukrainian army. Recently, the Ukrainian army has suffered major setbacks on both occasions.
The "Leopard 2" tanks used by the Ukrainian army have frequently lost under the firepower of the Russian army. The Financial Times admits that the mechanization of the Ukrainian army is "slow and costly". Western intelligence organizations estimate that the Ukrainian army has lost 11 "Leopard 2" tanks and a large number of "Bradley" infantry fighting vehicles, while the Russian army's data is even higher, reaching 19 "Leopard 2" tanks.
The Russian army continues to announce the destruction of the "Leopard 2" tank, which shows the fragility of the armored forces of the Ukrainian army. According to Western data, the Ukrainian army has received about 80 "Leopard 2" tanks from Europe, which means that the Ukrainian army has lost more than 10% of its tanks.
Putin revealed at the Russia-Africa summit that the Ukrainian army, due to the large losses of armored vehicles, has changed its tactics, transporting soldiers to the front line and letting them get off, and then the armored vehicles quickly retreated, leaving soldiers without cover to attack the Russian defense line on foot.
This was also confirmed by the American "Business Insider"**, saying that the Russian army had laid dense minefields and fortifications on the Zaporizhzhia front, forcing the Ukrainian army to abandon the heavy armored advance and switch to heavy artillery to clear the way for the advance of the engineering and infantry units. But this also brings new problems, namely the shortage of 155-mm artillery shells, which makes the West wonder if the Ukrainian army will be able to maintain the required level of shelling.
Business Insider"** also said that in addition to the "Leopard 2" tank, the Ukrainian army's other armored vehicles have also suffered heavy losses, resulting in the recent Ukrainian army began to use civilian vehicles to transport troops to the front line, at this time the United States accelerated the provision of M1 tanks to Ukraine may be to alleviate the lack of Ukrainian army's capacity and firepower.
However, it is still unknown how long the M1 tanks supplied by the United States will survive on the battlefield in Ukraine.
The M1 tank provided by the United States is not the latest M1A2, but the older M1A1, which arrived in Germany in April this year, and has been detained by the European and American forces since then, delaying the delivery of the tank on the grounds that the Ukrainian armored troops need to complete operation and maintenance training.
Some analysts believe that the United States did not intend to deliver tanks to Ukraine from the beginning. After the "Leopard 2" tanks raised by Europe were delivered to Ukraine, the United States still did not fulfill its promises, and finally, at the urging of Germany and Ukraine, the Pentagon found the old M1 tanks from the US military warehouse.
It was not until the Ukrainian offensive came to a standstill and the "Leopard 2" suffered heavy losses that the United States "had to" agree to the "release" of the tank.
Similar to the United States, there is also the United Kingdom. Earlier, the United Kingdom also announced that it had provided Ukraine with a batch of "Challenger 2" tanks, which had already arrived on the battlefield. However, neither Russia nor Ukraine nor the West have released "Challenger 2" to participate in actual combat. This makes one wonder: what exactly is the "Challenger 2" aided by the United Kingdom?