Russians examine captured Abrams tank in 'Tank City'
The American-made M1A1 Abrams tank, captured by the Russians in Ukraine, has been seen being transported within Russia. According to the Bulgarian Military service, the tank was delivered to the Uralvagonzavod company, which is involved in tank manufacturing, where the Russians will examine its construction.
The Bulgarian Military service, citing reports from the Russian military-themed Telegram channel "Military Observer," reports on the appearance of the M1A1 Abrams tank in the city of Nizhny Tagil, commonly referred to as "Tank City." This is where the headquarters of the Russian company Uralvagonzavod is located, and it is currently primarily engaged in tank production.
Abrams in Russia
Emerging reports indicate that the Abrams captured by the Russians in Ukraine was transported to Uralvagonzavod, where Russian engineers will examine it. As part of the so-called reverse engineering, they will take apart its individual components to extract design information. Not long ago, another Western tank underwent a similar procedure at Uralvagonzavod. This was the German tank Leopard 2A6, which was also used by Ukrainians.
The exact condition of the American-made tank is not known, but experts speculate that it may be one of the best-preserved or least damaged Abrams tanks captured by the Russians during the conflict in Ukraine. Kyiv received 31 such vehicles, and more than half of them (about 20 units) have already been destroyed in combat.
The M1A1 Abrams is one of the most recognisable and advanced main battle tanks in the world. It was developed in the United States in response to the growing need to modernise armoured forces during the Cold War era. Its production began in the 1980s, and the M1A1 model debuted in 1985, introducing several improvements over its predecessor, the M1 Abrams.
The M1A1 Abrams tanks delivered to Ukraine are equipped with a 120 mm gun and machine guns with calibres of 12.7 mm and 7.62 mm. They are standardly armoured with depleted uranium inserts, but they were modified to a variant with tungsten inserts for Ukraine. This modification aimed to reduce the risk of advanced technology being captured by the Russian side. The M1A1 Abrams, considered to be a powerful machine, can achieve high speeds thanks to the Honeywell AGT-1500 gas turbine engine with 1500 horsepower, and they also stand out for their excellent stabilisation and manoeuvrability.
