Citing reckless command decisions that have exposed combat troops to unnecessary risk, the Ukrainian defense ministry has replaced the brigade’s commander three times since September. The 47th Mechanized Brigade “struggles to find a commander worth keeping,” explained Militaryland.net, an analysis group that tracks the Ukrainian military developments.

Now led by its fourth commander in seven months—Col. Yan Yatsishen, formerly of the well-regarded 56th Motorized Brigade—the 47th Mechanized Brigade is practically begging for a break.

It has suffered hundreds of casualties. It has lost at least 40 of its roughly 200 M-2 fighting vehicles and five of its 31 M-1 tanks. Fearful of losing more of the 69-ton M-1s to Russian drones, the brigade recently pulled the surviving tanks off the front line so unit leaders could rethink their tactics.

The War-Weary 47th Mechanized Is Ukraine’s ‘Emergency Brigade.’ The Pentagon Is Rushing Replacement Vehicles To Keep The Exhausted Unit In The Fight.

The 47th Mechanized Brigade has been fighting non-stop for nearly a year. It's tired.

^{David Axe (Forbes)}

The recent destruction of the first Abrams tank in Ukraine by Russian forces raises questions about the vulnerability of advanced military equipment in the conflict, impacting future arms supplies and international support for Ukraine.

First Abrams Tank Supplied to Ukraine Destroyed in Avdiivka, Marks a Turning Point in Conflict Dynamics

Explore the recent destruction of the first Abrams tank by Russian forces in Ukraine, highlighting the strategic significance of Avdiivka and the vulnerability of advanced military equipment in the conflict.

^{Rizwan Shah (BNN)}

Many people are rightly talking about a major ‘crisis of competency’ taking over the US, what with the latest Boeing Max door failure as well.
As if that wasn’t bad enough, we had a major revelation from Ukrainian soldiers that the reason none of their Abrams are on the front is because they don’t work. Recall the recent reports of the highly sensitive Abrams, which need their filters changed every hour. But they took it a step further and actually showed a damning video of their Abrams gun all janky, its stabilizers completely shot.

Sol

2024-01-10 22:15:18

SITREP 1/9/24 : Latest Leading-edge Tech-war Updates

#SITREP #09-01-2024 : #Latest #Leading-edge #Tech-war #Updates #Ukraine #Zelensky #Russia #SMO #Crimea #US #NATO

it’s the Abrams’ filters that might prove to be the biggest headaches for Ukrainian troops. Twice a day, an M-1 crew must rev its tank’s engine to high revolutions-per-minute in order to trigger a pulse-jet system that blasts air out of the tank rather than into it, shooting dust and debris from the back grille.

That keeps the filters clean across lengthy deployments. Before the Americans added the pulse-jet system to the M-1, in the early 2000s, tank crews—especially those fighting in the desert—openly complained about their vehicles’ reliability.

“Army officials are aware of the problems with high fuel consumption, unreliable fuel pumps and sand-ingestion,” the U.S. Government Accountability Office reported in 1992. “They are working on solutions.”

The solution to the sand-ingestion problem was the twice-a-day pulse-jet cleaning process. It works just fine, as long as crews rigorously adhere to its schedule. Even when they’re getting shot at.

"All those things can be taught to the crew, but if ever they make a mistake—and they will—it blows a million-dollar engine that can't be repaired in the field," Mark Hertling, a retired U.S. Army general

The Biggest Problem With Ukraine’s M-1 Tanks: They Don’t Like Staying Dirty

The biggest issue with Ukraine’s new fleet of 31 American-made M-1 tanks isn’t the tanks’ 1,500-horsepower turbine engines. No, it’s the filters in the engines’ intakes.

^{David Axe (Forbes)}