The biggest problem of the American M1 Abrams tanks in Ukraine is the filters in the intake holes of the engines. They prevent contamination and destruction of the engine and require regular thorough cleaning.
Forbes magazine writes about it.
If the tank filters are not cleaned every 12 hours, the publication writes, it can damage the engine so much that it will have to be removed and, probably, the transmission, and the car sent to Poland for a long overhaul.
Twice a day, the M1 crew must rev their tankʼs engine to high RPMs per minute to trigger a pulse-jet system that ejects air from the tank, along with dust and debris from the rear grill.
"All these things can be taught to the crew, but if they ever make a mistake — and they will — it will destroy a million-dollar engine that cannot be repaired in the field," retired US Army General Mark Hertling told The Kyiv Independent.
In addition, 68-ton tanks require a lot of fuel. US Deputy Defense Secretary Laura Cooper called Abrams a "gasoline guzzler." It travels only about a kilometer on almost 4 liters of fuel. The US Army fuels its M1s with jet fuel, while other countriesʼ militaries put cheaper diesel into their Abrams. For example, this is what the Australian army does.
Replacing jet fuel with diesel does not significantly affect the performance of the M1. So there is every reason to believe that the Ukrainian army will save fuel reserves if it refuels American tanks with diesel.
- On January 25, 2023, US President Joe Biden announced the decision to transfer 31 M1 Abrams tanks and necessary spare parts to support tanks on the battlefield to Ukraine. The delay in the delivery of Abrams to Ukraine is related to the removal of technologies that can reach the Russians.
- On September 1, a group of Ukrainian military personnel completed a training program on American M1 Abrams tanks. Almost 200 Ukrainians trained on training tanks at the training grounds of the US Army in Germany.
- On September 25, The New York Times wrote that the first Abrams tanks had arrived in Ukraine, and on October 17 it became known that Ukraine had received all the M1 Abrams tanks promised by the American side — 31 machines.