Democratization of Warfare: Abrams vs. Ghoul

The duel on the Ukrainian battlefield, where vaunted American Abrams M1AI tanks fell to Russian ‘Ghoul’ FPV drones, indicates that U.S. Army land warfare doctrines are due for re-evaluation. The multi-million-dollar tanks were easily destroyed by $500 drones. Re-thinks by strategists at the U.S. Army War College (Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania) are overdue.

Imagery of burning M1A1 Abrams tanks have circulated widely in social media. M1A1 is the latest NATO ‘game-changer’ (Wunderwaffen) that burned—like every other ‘game-changer’ sent to Ukraine.

Destruction of ‘superior’ NATO equipment by ‘inferior’ Russian technology spread joy. Each Abrams costs c. $10 million. There are now three confirmed kills: two were destroyed by $500 FPV drones, aptly-named ‘Ghoul’ (упырь; upyr’), but it is not clear how the third was disabled.

Russian soldiers do not fear the Abrams. Since there is a $110,000 (10 million ruble) bounty for each Abrams destroyed, soldiers are eagerly hunting for them. One warrior made a video asking Biden to send more Abrams to Ukraine because existing stocks are dwindling (only 28 left):

We have to spend a lot of time and effort to find them [Abrams]. We are ready to wire a 10% commission to you on MIR credit card for each tank we destroy…You truly are a great patriot and the best president America ever had. We look forward to mutually beneficial cooperation.

Source: video above

Humor aside, the destruction of vaunted NATO armor demands serious analysis, but the Pentagon and General Dynamics Corp. (manufacturer of Abrams) instead called on Instagram to block images of burning Abrams for ‘protection of business reputation and company image.’ As per general orders, the Army will ignore the real problem: long-standing doctrines that made armor the centerpiece of land warfare in Europe (and beyond).

The first Abrams tank entered service with the U.S. Army in 1980. It is the product of land warfare doctrines developed in the 1960s and 70s, which envisaged Soviet tanks charging through the Fulda Gap, to be met by NATO forces. But the Cold War is over. American doctrine has remained languid; whereas Russia and Iran have taken new intellectual approaches to warfare. I am not saying that the ‘age of the tank’ is dead (yet), but re-evaluation of doctrine is overdue. Russians and Iranians have developed asymmetrical doctrines to countering U.S./NATO arms and armor by investing in drone, missile, and electronic warfare technologies. The $10,000,000 to $500 ratio is not the primary issue—although it is to long-suffering taxpayers—but reveals the ‘democratization of warfare’: where states with limited economic resources can obtain military technologies that nullify multi-billion-dollar American weapons systems. In sum, the doctrinal bases for spending billions and trillions of U.S. tax dollars on future ‘scrap metal’ must be re-evaluated.