Ukraine (21 Viewers)

General Hurtling speaks with Illia Ponomarenko about Abrams tanks. It's from a long article, and I've only quoted the part at the end where Hurtling was speaking. To read the whole article go to the link.


Yet, apart from the natural need to prepare highly-trained and cohesive crews and units, support and maintenance are the most significant concern behind the Ukrainian use of the Abrams.

"Would it surprise you if I told you that, as an armored division commander, the most important unit I had in my command was not one of combat arms units — but it was the support brigade?" says Hertling, a Desert Storm and Iraq War veteran.

"If you don't have the support infrastructure, with the mechanics, with the repairers, with the parts supply system, with the ammo and fuel redistribution, with a long line of communication, all those great 5-million-dollar-a-piece tanks aren't capable of fighting at all."

And in this regard, from Hertling's perspective, the Ukrainian military currently has shortcomings with supply chain management. This remains the biggest concern for the retired general, who is deeply supportive of Ukraine's war effort.

For instance, when it comes to engine repairs, M1s variants are powered by a singular integrated propulsion unit titled Full-Up Power Pack (FUPP), a combination of a Honeywell AGT1500 turbine engine and an Allison X1100-3B transmission.

And since it's a jet engine, air filters must be cleaned every 12 hours via startup and cool-down procedures.

"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," Hertling says.

"It has to be taken out of the vehicle, shipped back over the supply line, and replaced with a new engine. You can ask why can't it be repaired in the field. I guess if you have a bunch of jet mechanics in your field location where the tanks are, you could. But that's not what the U.S. military does. We pull the engine and ship it back to depot-level maintenance, and they repair both the engine and the transmission."

The same goes for multiple pieces of electronic equipment, from the commander's independent thermal viewers to ballistic computers and many other sophisticated components.

GettyImages-696416314.jpg
An Australian M1 Abrams tank moves along a dirt road during the Brolga Strike exercise in Townsville, Australia, on June 16, 2017. (Ian Hitchcock)
"Now you can say crews can learn all that," Hertling says.

"Yes, they can. But having been a tanker myself, what I tell you is when one of those black boxes breaks… you have to take the whole thing out, transport it back to be repaired, and replace it with another one."

In this regard, it might be good that Ukraine will get an M1A1 version that is simpler but has everything Ukraine needs.

Hertling added that the Abrams given to Ukraine are invariably aged machines, the maintenance of which becomes even more complicated as time goes by.

Years ago, as a young tank battalion commander in charge of 54 vehicles, Hertling was glad if 90% of his tanks were fully operational. His son, who was recently also a tank battalion commander, considered himself lucky to have 80% of his M1s ready to go at any given moment.

"And he was in a location in the United States where the depot-level maintenance and supplies were located," Hertling says.

"When he broke something, the place that would fix it was right around the corner. When we're talking about supply lines in combat, it's a whole different story, especially with the length of the supply lines going into Poland."

All these challenges, along with the acquisition and support of a myriad of other Western-provided types of weapons, equipment, and vehicles, are now up to the Ukrainian command to resolve.

"From the perspective of a guy who commanded forces in combat, I know every time I was given something new, it was a pain in the arse to try and get everything trained in order to incorporate it," Hertling says.

"And Ukraine's forces have seen all sorts of new things coming their way. I know (Ukraine's armed forces general-in-chief Valeriy Zaluzhny) is probably pulling his hair out, of what little hair he has, to try and get everything massed together — so that he can begin a counteroffensive."
 
General Hurtling speaks with Illia Ponomarenko about Abrams tanks. It's from a long article, and I've only quoted the part at the end where Hurtling was speaking. To read the whole article go to the link.

I enjoy Hertlings' insights. I know some of the older Abrams could run on diesel engines, not sure how many of those we have left.
 
General Hurtling speaks with Illia Ponomarenko about Abrams tanks. It's from a long article, and I've only quoted the part at the end where Hurtling was speaking. To read the whole article go to the link.

That's why I've always felt that UKR should keep the Abrams near Kyiv. Close to the Belarus border, as a deterrent. I really don't think they should be on the frontline way out in the eastern part of UKR. Also, I thought they were getting the diesel version?
 
I thought they were getting the diesel version?

M1A1 according to that. Furthermore, the reported engine is the AGT1500 multi fuel and diesel is an option.


The engine can use a variety of fuels, including jet fuel, gasoline, diesel and marine diesel.
 
That's why I've always felt that UKR should keep the Abrams near Kyiv. Close to the Belarus border, as a deterrent. I really don't think they should be on the frontline way out in the eastern part of UKR. Also, I thought they were getting the diesel version?
I always thought the issue with diesels was quantity. Strictly my thinking, do any of our Arab allies have older Abrams that could be sent and then replaced with newer ones?
 

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