Why is Abrams tank the best choice for Ukraine?

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This video talks about the pros and cons of Abrams tanks for Ukraine, and compares them to other types, mostly Leopard 2s. It explains why Abrams, despite their inefficiencies, are the best choice.

0:00 - Intro
1:35 - Which Abrams variant for Ukraine?
2:55 - Abrams' armor and gun
4:15 - Mobility comparison
5:15 - Gas Turbine pros and cons
7:05 - Fuel consumption
9:25 - Training the tank crews
9:55 - How many Abrams does US have?
10:53 - Refurbishing older tanks
11:28 - US refurbishment capacity
12:33 - Germany's Leopard 2s
13:30 - Condition of Leo 2 tanks
14:17 - Spanish Leo 2 tanks
14:45 - Number of stored Leo 2s
15:22 - Abrams and Leo 2 numbers compared
16:29 - Refurbishment of Leo 2s
17:00 - When might the tanks arrive?
17:51 - More on training the crews
18.35 - Politics of it all
19:55 - Finances and costs
20:35 - How many tanks does Ukraine need and have?
21:49 - Conclusion
22:39 - Outro

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[Binkov]

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[teddy.d]

Something that should be mentioned as well, is the fact that M-1’s have been stored in the desert, which is very dry and keeps them like new. Many other nations don’t have that capability. Excellent video, Mr. Binkov.

[pahtar]

Another advantage the Abrams has is that Poland has ordered 250 new M1A2 SEP v3 tanks, so there will be maintenance facilities right next door to Ukraine. Having pledged Leopards to Ukraine, they've also contracted for 116 ex-US Marines Abrams M1A1 tanks to be delivered right away, so they will be able to maintain both major M1 variants.

[Metalblowing]

Ukrainian here. Tanks are a big limiting factor for us. Paraphrasing one of my friends from the trenches near Kramatorsk: " russian piece of sh*t gear shows up (old tank) and starts shelling our position for 20-30 minutes, then just runs away".

They have to wait for artillery to blow that tank up, it takes time for artillery to coordinate.

Also when you talk about storming positions, difficult to do that without proper armor support. We have a big gap in armored vehicles. Just yesterday one of my friends was showing how they used Lanos car (shitty sedan) to traverse the battlefield. So tanks, armored vehicles, humvees, all is needed.

[theguy]

The Abrams was literally designed to fight Soviet tanks in Eastern Europe. I don’t see all the surprise lol

[Curmudgeon]

over 20 years ago I was walking down a road and I kept hearing the occasional squeaking I turned around and an M1 was about 20 behind me going at walking speed. I could not hear the engine at all.

[deliriousdavies]

One thing that surprises me is how few are mentioning the M88 recovery vehicles that are being sent in the American armor package. These recovery vehicles are built on old M60 chassis and have tremendous hauling capacity. Their A-frame boom crane has a 35-ton lift capacity, which to my knowledge is more than any other recovery vehicle in the Ukrainian Army.

Someone mentioned that Ukraine now has the most diverse tank fleet in the world. This vehicle, procured in large enough numbers, will go a long way in allowing Ukraine to keep its armored vehicles in good repair and on the battlefield. Honestly, they are more valuable than the Abrams we are sending.

[alexei]

My brother is Russia tank man and he say empty ERA blocks are good place to hide snacks from rest of crew. Also say track maintenance very hard for them because retreating infantry get stuck in road wheel. Sorry for bad english.

[channel_no_longer_active]

The good thing about Leopard and Abrams is that they use the same ammo, since they use the exact same main gun.

[cavalryscout]

The Abrams and Leopard II aren't exactly competitors — they are both offshoots of the MBT 70 project, and share major expendable parts like tracks and gun barrels, and the Abrams uses metric hardware (nuts and bolts) that is commonly available in Europe. Since both tanks were designed to fight with mixed NATO forces in Germany, both can be supported at the field level by most NATO militaries.

The parts of the M1 which are unique or complex are meant to be quickly swapped out as a module, with the damaged module being sent to a rear depot area for repair. The M1 is one of the easier US vehicles for a foreign military to integrate, and most of the difficulties supporting it would be true of any heavy tank.

[academicdeaneducation]

This is a result of spending less that 2% of their GDP on defense. The US has been harping in this for a time. I wonder if the Europeans have learned their lesson?

[scottkrater]

The USMC used M-60's until long after the Army retired them. The USMC recently decided to retire their tank units. There must be some of them somewhere.

[dextercochran]

Russia: *gives more tanks to Ukraine than anyone

USA: Your terms are acceptable.

[cipwreck]

I moved a few Abrams in the motor pool and the civilians that ran the yard would yell at us if we had to move them more than once because it was 7 gallons of fuel just to start it up

[eannamcnamara]

I can't help but feel bad for the poor Russian mobiks in a T-55 which are going to get fucking obliterated by an abrams

[Deathbomb]

Exhaust temps of the Challenger2 and Leo2 are measured right after start up and at the exhaust tip. After running for a few minutes those temps rise to about 1500-1550°F. The temp you cited for Abrams is at the exit of the engine and doesn't factor the fact that the exhaust is mixed with air passing through the radiator for the trans. It is then also lowered by passing through a grate that also mixes it with outside air bring the exhaust temp down to about 1400°F. But none of this actually matters because thermals will see the tank even if it hasn't been running and was simply out in the sun most the day. It will see it even if it's in shade. Thermals detect temperature differences, even by just a few degrees. So it really doesn't matter how hot or cool the exhaust is. They practice recognizing the thermal signature of different vehicles to tell friend from foe.

[donchaput]

As always, Logistics is the biggest piece of a war. Getting equipment where it's needed, even if it's not the best equipment, is always vital.
I would take 500 good tanks in one or two months rather than get 30 awesome tanks once a month for 3 years.
This is why military's are constantly trying to make a choice as to how good is good enough with a weapons platform. Having it all can cost way too much and give you too few numbers.

[Liberty_or_Ded]

The Abrams is best at three things: Guzzling fuel, going from 0 to 60 ASAP, and being available. It doesn't have the biggest gun or the most defenses or best pressure ratio, but if you can keep her watered, she can get up and MOVE when you need her to move, and there's so many of them, and refurbishment is so simple because of the modularity of its design, you can count on there being another of her available when she has to rest.

[scottkrater]

I've trained with diesel powered M-60's and they were extremely loud and noisy compared to the gas turbines on the M-1's.

[grizzles]

Just one correction, the Abrams engine runs negligibly hotter. If you placed both tanks side by side its almost unnoticeable, really the only drawback to a turbine is the fuel consumption. Not to mention the turbine performs better in cold environments which is why the T-80 and STRV-103 both had gas turbines. Granted the STRV-103 had both a diesel and gas turbine. But the turbine was installed to help with cold starts.