NATO Hardware Not Looking Good in Ukraine

July 3, 2023, 2022 (EIRNS)—NATO hardware is not making a good showing in Ukraine. According to TASS, the Berliner Zeitung reports that the destruction by Russia’s Armed Forces of Western military equipment supplied to Ukraine has had a “sobering effect” on Western countries. Western leaders had “high hopes” for the edge that military hardware deliveries were expected to give Kyiv. It was assumed that the battle gear would help Ukraine to “achieve critical territorial gains.” However, three weeks after the onset of the Ukrainian counteroffensive, it is now known that Russian forces wiped out “an entire range” of Leopard 2 tanks, which became “another sobering moment” for the West.

One particular piece of hardware that the Ukrainians are complaining about is the French-made AMX-10 RC light, wheeled tank. One Ukrainian commander told AFP that the tanks are “impractical” for front-line attacks, claiming one four-man crew has already died because of the vehicle’s thin armor. A 34-year-old battalion commander within the 37th Marine Brigade, who uses the call sign Spartanets, said the tanks’ ”thin armor” means they can be used as fire support, but not in front-line assaults. “Unfortunately, there was one case when the crew died in the vehicle,” the major told AFP on June 30. “There was artillery shelling and a shell exploded near the vehicle, the fragments pierced the armor and the ammunition set detonated.” The crew of four inside were all killed, he said.

But Russian forces have captured at least one AMX-10 RC intact. According to a video posted on the Slavyangrad Telegram channel, the tank got stuck in a pit (perhaps a crater from an artillery shell impact), and the crew abandoned it without firing a shot.