Ukrainian resilience: Abrams tank withstands drone onslaught
During battles conducted by the Ukrainian 47th Armoured Brigade, the Russians discovered a lone Abrams tank moving along the road. Despite being disabled by FPV drones, the tank's crew escaped unharmed. The Ukrainian commander commented on the impressive resilience of the American tank.
One of the Ukrainian Abrams tanks fell victim to Russian FPV drones. A video released by the Russians shows an attack on the moving tank. As seen in the footage, the first drone strikes the engine compartment of the Abrams, immobilizing the tank.
The pilot of the second drone has an easier task—since the target is stationary, they can occupy an optimal position and aim carefully. As shown in the video, the Russian drone strikes very precisely at one of the tank's vulnerable spots, namely the turret-tank junction. The recording cuts off at this point.
According to Ukrainians, cited by Defence24, a total of up to six FPV drones hit the tank. They caused extensive damage, rendering the machine immobile and consequently abandoned—it's likely to fall into the hands of the advancing Russians.
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However, the Ukrainian commander emphasized that the tank's armour wasn't penetrated despite the damage sustained, and the crew remained uninjured. "God bless America for the Abrams," the Ukrainian concludes. According to him, the crew's survival was aided by the tank's original armour and additional reactive armour fitted in Ukraine.
FPV drones instead of guided anti-tank missiles
The Russian attack simultaneously shows why the mass use of small FPV drones can be considered not the standard for future conflicts but rather a specific feature of the war in Ukraine. Drones substitute for other missing means, including guided anti-tank missiles (as in the described case) or precision artillery ammunition.
Although a drone typically carries a smaller and weaker combat load than an anti-tank missile, this is compensated by the number of FPV machines. To disable a tank in battle, there's no need to penetrate its armour—several or even a dozen hits allow for demolishing the drive system, destroying the optoelectronics or various sensors, and consequently immobilizing and "blinding" the tank, which—unless towed away and repaired—becomes temporarily useless.
It is also worth noting the increasingly common use of fibre-optically guided drones, which respond to the widespread use of jammers. Although the range of such drones is limited by the length of the cable, machines controlled in this way are immune to interference and can be guided right up to the moment of impact, as seen in the video released by the Russians.
