The Ukrainian Army Is Running Out of M-1 Abrams Tanks
Losses of the American-made tanks is accelerating outside Pokrovsk
The Ukrainian army’s 47th Mechanized Brigade is one of just a half-dozen or so brigades holding the line outside Pokrovsk, a city with a pre-war population of 60,000 that is the locus of Russia’s nearly yearlong offensive in eastern Ukraine.
An offensive that achieved a critical breakthrough in mid-February, when ammunition-starved Ukrainian troops retreated from the fortress city of Avdiivka, 25 miles east of Pokrovsk.
Pokrovsk sits aside roads and railways that are vital to the efficient resupply of Ukrainian forces all along the eastern front. Taking Pokrovsk is one of Russia’s top priorities as its wider war on Ukraine grinds into its 29th month. Keeping Pokrovsk is one of Ukraine’s top priorities.
It’s taking a toll on the elite 47th Brigade, the main operator of many of Ukraine’s best American-made armored vehicles including M-2 Bradley fighting vehicles. The brigade is the sole Ukrainian operator of ex-American M-1 Abrams tanks.
The United States pledged 31 of the 69-ton M-1A1SA tanks in January 2023. It took months for American contractors to remove their depleted-uranium armor and replace it, presumably with tungsten—as dictated by longstanding U.S. policy. Ukrainian tankers spent those months training to operate the complex tanks.
When the Abrams finally arrive in Ukraine in the fall of 2023, they equipped a single battalion with the 47th Mechanized Brigade—forming a U.S. Army-style combined-arms team alongside the brigade’s three battalions of M-2s.
The Ukrainian M-1s finally saw combat for the first time in February, 13 months after the United States pledged them to the war effort. It was around that time that Ukrainian troops were beginning to buckle in Avdiivka.
The 47th Brigade and its M-1s covered the retreat. Six months later, they’re still conducting a fighting withdrawal to the west along the Avdiivka-Pokrovsk axis. It’s dangerous work.
The 47th Brigade lost its first M-1 in February, another in March and one each in May and July. Mines, anti-tank missiles and explosive drones have accounted for most of the losses. Desperate to preserve their precious Abrams, the 47th Brigade tankers added blocks of explosive armor to the tanks.
But losses accelerated in August as the Russian march on Pokrovsk also accelerated. By Sunday, the Russians were within five miles of Pokrovsk—and the 47th Brigade had lost two more M-1s. Another seven Abrams have been damaged in the six months since the tanks first saw action.
At most, the 47th Brigade has 25 M-1s left—and that’s assuming every damaged tank has been repaired. More likely, the brigade is down to half its original tanks.
The United States has not yet pledged any additional M-1s. And even if it did, it might take another six months to prepare them for transfer. There’s a good chance those 31 Abrams are all the Abrams Ukraine ever will get. When they’re gone, they’re gone—and the 47th Brigade will have to convert its tank battalion to another type.
It’s done it before. Prior to receiving M-1s, the 47th Brigade operated all 21 Leopard 2A6 tanks Ukraine got from Germany and Portugal. As combat losses reduced the Leopard 2A6 force to at most 15, the 47th Brigade transferred the survivors to the 21st Mechanized Brigade to reinforce its nine (out of 10) remaining ex-Swedish Strv 122 tanks, which are variants of the German Leopard 2A5.
It’s not clear what type might replace the M-1. Ukraine got most of its modern Western-made tanks in 2023; since then, it mostly has equipped newly forming brigades with locally-produced T-64BVs. The Cold War-vintage, but heavily upgraded, T-64s are abundant in Ukraine: there could be a thousand of them. Comparatively, M-1s are rare—and getting rarer on the killing fields outside Pokrovsk.
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