Ukraine's tank arsenal holds steady despite war: A closer look into its inventory
"When speaking generally, our assessments show that two years after Russia's full-scale invasion, the number of primary tanks in service with the Ukrainian armed forces remains nearly the same as before the war," state IISS representatives in their report.
How many tanks does Ukraine possess?
Nevertheless, experts highlight that the Ukrainian ground forces are now twice as numerous as in 2022. If each brigade had a battalion of 31 tanks, Ukraine would need over 3,000 units. Keeping this in mind, the current holding capacity doesn't seem overly optimistic.
The Ukrainian losses list, maintained by the Oryx group, contains more than 700 tanks. A significant number, as about 500 tanks were intercepted from the Russians, several hundred post-Soviet designs were retrieved from warehouses and restored, and about 600 tanks were added to the Ukrainian army from allied countries. This balance reflects more than 1,000 Ukrainian tanks. However, IISS only mentions tanks in full combat readiness. The remainder is tanks undergoing repair or modernization in Ukrainian factories or overseas. As an aside, we remind you that damaged Leopard 2 tanks, for instance, get repaired in Poland and Lithuania.
All Abrams still in Ukraine
As reported by Forbes, the third year of war will intensify Ukraine's requirement for more tanks. The local industry does not manufacture new types of armoured vehicles, so allies who've noticeably slowed down their supplies in recent months will play a significant role.
Up to now, the West has predominantly supplied various versions of German Leopards, apart from Soviet-era tanks. Britain has sent several Challenger 2 tanks, highly praised by Ukrainian soldiers, to the front, while the United States has donated 31 Abrams M1A1 tanks.
Although the Russians have managed to incapacitate a significant number of Leopards, they have only hit one Challenger 2. The situation with the Abrams tanks is more intriguing. The Ukrainians quickly decided to "conceal" these tanks as they were "waiting to employ them at the opportune moment."
The American machines noticeably outmatch the older versions of the German Leopards and Soviet-era tanks regarding offensive capabilities and durability. Equipped with powerful engines, .47-inch calibre guns and .50 and .30-inch calibre machine guns. Kyiv has received units with modified armour modules, where standard panels of depleted uranium have been supplanted with tungsten inserts. In images that were leaked online, it can be seen that they've added additional ARAT-1 armour kits from the TUSK package.
