US asks Ukraine to return Abrams tanks to save reputation?

According to News9live, in order to save the reputation of the powerful M1 Abrams tank, the US asked Ukraine to return this donated batch of vehicles.

The above source added that the above proposal was made by US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky during his visit to Kiev on November 20. Accordingly, the head of the Pentagon proposed a plan to provide 11 German Leopard tanks in exchange for 28 Abrams tanks, or a ratio of 7:4.

However, News9live's information about the US "demanding gifts" is based on exclusive information and has not been verified.

Currently, Ukraine and the US have not commented on the above information.

The US proposal was rejected by President Zelensky?

After the US Secretary of Defense's visit, the Ukrainian military released a video showing some Abrams tanks used in combat that had been lying dormant for months. It is believed that Mr. Zelensky does not support the return of American tanks.

 According to President Zelensky's advisers, if the M1 tank is damaged, the US may be pressured to provide more weapons.

The reason America can "ask for gifts"

General Dynamics, the manufacturer of Abrams, believes that in the current situation, the Ukrainian army will not be able to use all M1 tanks in combat, because they fear the fate of American tanks may be the same as what happened before. with German tanks when Kiev organized the summer counteroffensive campaign.

Russia's release of videos showing Leopard tanks being blown up by Russian weapons appears to have caused serious damage to the company's reputation as well as that of these tanks around the world.

Many military experts believe that American tanks may not perform well in the cold months and that using them in heavy snowfall would also be dangerous because these tanks are not designed based on atmospheric conditions. harsh climate of Russia and Ukraine.

In addition, there is a risk that Abrams tanks may be captured by Russia, allowing Russians to access the modern technology of these tanks.

Ukraine should preserve its precious tanks

According to Business Insider, Nearly two years after the conflict with Russia broke out, Ukraine has been aided by the US and NATO with many advanced Western main battle tank models such as Germany's Leopard 2, Britain's Challenger 2, and of course the M1A1. Abrams that the US is "demanding gifts" as mentioned above.

Anyway, there is an obvious truth that these tanks cannot become a "silver bullet" to help change the situation on the battlefield, Kiev's counterattack campaign has failed. Through use, many German-made Leopard 2 tanks were destroyed by Russia. The Challenger 2 tank has only participated in a few battles but has already lost 2 units.

According to some Western experts, the Ukrainian Command needs to calculate the optimal solution to both use combat effectively and preserve them. This is a very difficult problem for Kiev's generals because winter is coming while the counter-offensive campaign is at a standstill and Russia is increasing attacks on many fronts at the same time such as Avdiivka, Bakhmut, Kupyansk, Marinka. , Orekhov,..

Seth Jones, director of the Transnational Threats Project at the US-based Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), said that when faced with a new round of Russian attacks, Ukraine will have to researched how to utilize the approximately 300 Western tanks they had received to strengthen their defenses.

Western tanks were originally designed for offensive attack tactics, but they were also very suitable when placed in fortifications to act as "mobile steel shells" to stop Russia's advance.

Expert Jones advised that Ukraine should let Western tanks hunker down and wait for the time, specifically placing them in fortified fortifications, creating strong fire points, helping to strengthen defense capabilities, while also is the best way to preserve precious forces.