The AMX-10RC is getting troops killed as a result of its armor is just too skinny for assaults towards Russian forces, an officer has claimed
A Ukrainian army commander has reportedly raised issues that mild fight tanks provided to the previous Soviet republic by France aren’t appropriate for assaults towards Russian defensive strains as a result of their skinny armor can simply be pierced by artillery shells and different weapons.
Touted earlier this 12 months by Ukrainian Protection Minister Aleksey Reznikov as a “sniper rifle on quick wheels,” the French AMX-10 RC armored preventing automobile has confirmed “impractical” throughout Kiev’s present counteroffensive towards Russian forces, Agence-France Presse (AFP) reported on Sunday. One four-man crew has died due to the tank’s skinny armor, which might simply be pierced by Russian weaponry, a Ukrainian battalion commander informed the media outlet.
“Sadly, there was one case when the crew died within the automobile,” mentioned the 34-year-old Ukrainian main, whom AFP recognized solely by his name signal, Spartanets. “There was artillery shelling, and a shell exploded close to the automobile. The fragments pierced the armor, and the ammunition set detonated.”
Reznikov was filmed in April using in an AMX-10 RC, which was among the many Western weaponry rushed to Kiev this spring for a long-awaited counteroffensive that lastly started in June. “These quick, trendy machines with highly effective weapons will assist us in liberating our territory,” Reznikov mentioned in a Twitter submit thanking French President Emmanuel Macron and Protection Minister Sebastien Lecornu. “That is what liberty, equality and brotherhood appear to be.”
Nonetheless, Spartanets mentioned the French tanks have confirmed to be ineffective in front-line assaults. “The weapons are good, the commentary units are good, however sadly, there may be skinny armor, and it’s impractical to make use of them within the entrance line,” he mentioned.
Simply sending out the autos so that they get destroyed, I think about it’s impractical and pointless as a result of it’s primarily a threat for the crew.”
The Ukrainian commander added that the AMX-10 RCs additionally has been affected by breakdowns of their gear packing containers, presumably due to their use on grime roads. Kiev’s troops acquired one month of coaching in France, which wasn’t satisfactory to grasp working the automobile, he mentioned.
The 20-ton AMX-10 RC travels on wheels, moderately than tracks. It was developed within the Seventies for armed reconnaissance and assaults on tanks. The French army is within the means of changing its fleet of AMX-10 RCs with the extra trendy EBRC Jaguar.
Hundreds of Ukrainian troops have been killed within the counteroffensive, which has did not breach Russia’s defensive strains. Dozens of Western-supplied armored autos have been destroyed, together with German-made Leopard tanks and AMX-10 RCs, based on the Russian Protection Ministry. The New York Occasions reported final week that 17 of the 113 Bradley preventing autos provided to Kiev by the US have been broken or destroyed.
