Russia Calls Arriving Abrams & Leopard 2 Tanks “Suicide Mission”

By Kris Osborn, President, Center for Military Modernization

(Washington D.C.) Multiple Russian news reports are printing sharp criticisms and what could be called “propaganda-type” spin related to the planned arrival of US Abrams and German Leopard 2s in Ukraine.

Abrams Tanks

“Of course, Leopard and Abrams tanks are very powerful vehicles. However, these tanks are garbage unless they are protected by fighter jets and enjoy strong defense and artillery support,” Vice President of the Russian Academy of Missile and Artillery Sciences Konstantin Sivkov told the Turkish Aydinlik newspaper, as cited in Russia’s state-backed TASS news service.

Interestingly, while the criticisms and comments invite substantial skepticism and lack context, several of the comments and quotes mentioned in Russia’s TASS news agency and the Russian-owned Sputnik news point to important questions related to the war in Ukraine and some of its tactical dynamics and concepts of operation.

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Both TASS and Sputnik essays argue that US Abrams tanks will encounter a “survivability” problem against Russia given the current state of anti-armor weapons and a lack of fighter jets, close air support and Combined Arms Maneuver integration.

“The decision to provide Ukraine with Western main battle tanks is, literally, a suicide pact, something those who claim they are looking out for the best interests of Ukraine should consider before it is too late,” Scott Ritter writes in the Russian Sputnik newspaper. Ritter goes on to suggest that, to a large extent, the value of heavy armor such as tanks may have been “outstripped” by the advent of anti-armor weapons and other technologies.