Video reveals ISIS destroying a US-made tank, and why USA must up its game

A video revealing an ISIS-fired, Russian anti-tank guided missile (ATGM) eliminating a US-made M1 Abrams tank shows the troubling degree to which the United States’s tanks have actually fallen back on the modern-day battleground.

The video reveals exactly what Dan Goure of The Lexington Institute determines as a Kornet ATGM striking the back of an Iraqi Abrams tank. The tank then gushes an amazing stream of fire, and there can be little doubt that the team was killed.

Such an attack represents a huge victory for ISIS, a loss for the Iraqi individuals attempting to recover the city of Mosul.

In Syria alone, 8 various kinds of ATGMs threaten any armored department, the Congressional Research Service said. There’s no need to think a more beneficial circumstance exists in Iraq.

The United States’s M1 Abrams, initially introduced in 1979, has actually gone through a variety of updates to handle developing risks on the battleground, however it has actually fallen back in a crucial location – active protection.

Active protection systems (APS) include a variety of sensing units that see inbound rockets and counter them with a hail of shrapnel or a surge, thus obstructing the inbound rocket prior to the tank takes the hit.

However only one battle-tested APS exists, and it’s Israeli. In 2006, leading tier Israeli Merkava tanks combated versus mostly unarmored Hezbollah departments, however ATGMs beat a significant variety of the tanks.

During the 2014 Gaza conflict with Hamas, Israel dealt with a likewise armed opposition, however it didn’t lose a single tank. The distinction was APS.

The United States hasn’t dealt with a near-peer foe in ground fight in a long time, and throughout that time its tank operations have actually atrophied. Presently, researchers are aiming to source a great APS to release on United States tanks, however no choices have actually been made yet.

On the other hand, Russia declares to have been successful in producing an APS for its brand-new Armata tank household.