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Ukrainian crews maintaining US-supplied M1 Abrams tanks admitted there are several problems with using the armoured vehicles on the battlefield against Russian forces, CNN reported on May 29.

The Abrams’ poor performance shows that the Ukrainian military is not only suffering from a lack of weapons but even quality weapons once they arrive, a scenario that will ensure Kiev must negotiate peace with Moscow on extremely unfavourable terms.

According to the Ukrainian crews, the $10 million vehicles did not have sufficient armour against modern weapons such as drones and thus failed to adequately protect personnel operating the equipment from attack. CNN cited one insider as saying that tanks had become the “number one target” of Russian forces, adding that “without defence, the crew doesn’t survive at the battlefield.”

The insider’s colleague, using the callsign Joker, explained that the Abrams “armour is not sufficient for this moment. It doesn’t protect the crew. For real, today this is the war of drones. So now, when the tank rolls out, they always try to hit them.”

Ukrainian sources also said the tanks appeared to have technical problems, such as condensation affecting the electronic components. Serving soldiers noted that tanks were not suited for the war conditions, given that normally, air power and artillery, which Ukrainian forces lack, help clear the battlefield before tanks and troops advance.

The US has deployed 31 Abrams tanks to Ukraine, where they are used near the front line in the eastern direction. However, Ukraine’s order for the tanks was controversial, given that the vehicles involve complicated supply and maintenance chains.

It is recalled that on April 26, according to sources cited by the Associated Press, Ukraine had removed its US-supplied Abrams M1A1 tanks from combat against Russia due to swarms of Russian drones, which made it very difficult for tanks to operate without being detected or attacked.

Reemphasising the devastation Russian drones can cause, CNN lamented: “Much of the Ukrainian frontline is now dominated by the use of self-destructing attack drones, tiny and accurate devices that can swarm infantry and even cause significant damage to tanks. The advent of these so called First-Person Vision (FPV) drones, flown by soldiers wearing gaming goggles, has changed the nature of the war, limiting movement and introducing a new element of vulnerability to armored vehicles.”

The Ukrainian crew complained to the American outlet that the tanks were made for NATO-style warfare, in which air power and artillery prepare the battlefield before tanks and infantry advance. This is a problem for the Kiev regime since it lacks artillery, manpower, and air power.

“They would never do it,” Joker said of NATO soldiers undertaking the same advances the Ukrainian military makes without air support since Russia has destroyed Ukraine’s air force. Switching to English, Joker mimicked a NATO soldier: “‘Call the aviation, call the artillery,’” he said. “We have no aviation and artillery. We have only tank. And it’s the problem.”

The lack of weapons and the poor performance of weapons that have arrived from the West has created a situation that Western powers are afraid of – Kiev having to negotiate peace on Moscow’s terms since the Russian military is methodically dismantling and disposing of Ukrainian forces on the battlefield.

The Brussels-based International Crisis Group (ICG) told Newsweek that Ukraine and its Western allies must swiftly act to allow troops to have weapons and training to fight Russia, or Kiev may be forced into a peace deal that is completely advantageous to Moscow.

“For too long, allies clung to magical thinking about Russia’s weakness and Ukraine’s ability to force the Kremlin into talks with battlefield success,” Alissa de Carbonnel, ICG deputy program director for Europe and Central Asia, told Newsweek in emailed comments.

“If Ukraine and its backers do not move fast to fix the problems, Kiev may have little choice but to strike a deal on Russia’s terms. Even if such a deal ended the fighting in the short term it would come at a “tremendous cost not just to Ukraine, but also to European security,” the ICG said. “If Ukraine and its supporters cannot both adapt and maintain their resolve, Kiev will almost surely continue to lose lives and territory, it will then eventually have little choice but to cut some sort of deal.”

Although much was made of the Abrams’ power before they arrived in Ukraine, they have been exposed as weak weapons when facing their Russian counterparts. Ukraine, despite the bravado from the West, was just a scrapyard for outdated weaponry and an excuse for Western military industries to rearm NATO countries. However, the repercussion is that Kiev does not have the strength to impose its will over Moscow in any peace negotiations.

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This article was originally published on InfoBrics.

Ahmed Adel is a Cairo-based geopolitics and political economy researcher. He is a regular contributor to Global Research.

Featured image is from InfoBrics