THE war in Ukraine is going through its 48th day with the victims now being thousands with the majority of them being civilians, while the losses of the Russian side are huge, both in manpower and in military equipment and vehicles. Russia is believed to have lost hundreds tank within two months of the invasion of Ukraine.
According to the BBC, military experts attribute the losses to the advanced anti-tank weapons that Western nations have given to Ukraine and the bad way in which Russia has used its tanks.
How big are the losses of Russia’s armor and tanks?
The armed forces of Ukraine say that Russia has lost more than 680 tanks and tanks.
Meanwhile, Oryx – a military and intelligence blog that measures Russia’s military losses in Ukraine based on photos sent from the war zone – says that Russia has lost more than 460 tanks and more than 2,000 other armored vehicles.
According to Rand Corporation and IISS, the Russia had a total of about 2,700 tanks at the start of the conflict.
How effective were anti-tank weapons?
The United States supplied Ukraine with 2,000 Javelin anti-tank missiles at the start of the conflict and has since sent at least 2,000 more.
Javelins can be fired so that the rocket explodes at the top of a chariot, where armor is weaker, according to their maker, Lockheed Martin.
Many Russian tanks are equipped with reactive armor that absorbs the impact of missiles. However, Javelins are equipped with two heads. One blows up the shield and the other pierces the frame from below.
The United Kingdom has also sent at least 3,600 NLAW missiles. They are also designed to explode as they pass over the relatively exposed top of the chariot tower. “Javelin and NLAW are very strong,” said Nick Reynolds, a ground research analyst at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI). “Without this deadly aid, the situation in Ukraine would be very different.”
The United States has supplied Ukraine with 100 Switchblade anti-tank drones. Known as “kamikaze” drones, they can hover over a target miles away from their pilot and then fall on a chariot, destroying it with the warhead at their tip.
How responsible are the Russian tactics in the field?
Today, the Russian army operates through Battalion Tactical Teams (BTGs), which are independent combat units consisting of tanks, infantry and artillery.
The exact composition of these units may vary, but they generally involve a large number of armored vehicles but relatively few infantry troops.
“Russia has relatively few troops to recruit,” said Phillips O’Brien, a professor of strategic studies at St Andrews University. They are designed to attack quickly with high firepower. “However, they have very little protection for infantry personnel to accompany them and retaliate if the armored phalanx is attacked.”
“This makes the Russian army like a boxer with an excellent right crochet and a glass jaw.”
Professor O’Brien says the lack of Russian air patrols means that Ukrainian troops have easily found positions to ambush Russian armored phalanxes.
“Russia did not gain air superiority at the beginning of the conflict,” he says, “and so it can not patrol the skies, tracking the movements of the Ukrainian army.”
“This means that the Ukrainian troops were able to get into good positions for ambush fire and they were able to do a lot of damage in this way.”
How much is Russian incompetence to blame?
According to Oryx, half of the tanks that Russia has lost have not been destroyed or damaged by the enemy, but have been captured or abandoned. Experts attribute this to logistical failures and the incompetence of Russian troops.
“You have seen images of Russian tanks being swept away by Ukrainian farmers’ tractors,” says Professor O’Brien.
“Some of these tanks were abandoned because they ran out of fuel. This is a logistical failure. Some got stuck in the spring mud because the top management invaded the wrong time of year».
“Russia’s ground forces are made up of many conscripts and recruits. “This makes them, in global terms, a low- to medium-quality military force,” said Nick Reynolds of RUSI.
“Many tanks have been abandoned due to poor driving. Some have fallen off bridges. Others were driven into ditches, causing the tracks to come off. The ability of the troops to use their equipment was insufficient. But often, the soldiers simply abandoned their vehicles and left. Thus, the will to fight is lacking “.
The Ukrainian government has even issued instructions on how citizens should hand over abandoned military vehicles. The authorities also confirmed that anyone who finds such “battle trophies” does not need to declare them for tax purposes.
Source: News Beast
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