Quote:
Originally Posted by zraver
crews are only part of the story, the Abrams still enjoys a great reputation among her crews. By September of 2006 the US had suffered at least 20 but less than 25 Abrams losses in combat from August 2003, less than 2% of viehicle losses. Backing this up are the following sources.
Since the Iraq insurgency heated up in autumn of 2003, the US Army's combat losses include at least 20 M1 Abrams tanks, 50 Bradley fighting vehicles, 20 Stryker wheeled combat vehicles, 20 M113 armored personnel carriers, and 250 Humvees. The number of vehicles lost in battle comes to nearly 1,000 after adding in heavy and medium trucks and trailers, mine-clearing vehicles, and Fox wheeled reconnaissance vehicles. Nearly all these losses were caused by improvised explosive devices in Iraq
Asia Times Online :: Middle East News - How the US Army's being worn down in Iraq
In September 2006 Senetaor Shelby authorized 50 million for Abrams combat losses.
Senator Richard C. Shelby
Abrams cost 2,350,000 USD
Army Guide
50,000,000 (Senator) divided by 2,350,000= 21 (Asia times claims at least 20).
Thats is three mutally agreeing sources 1 media, 1 goverment, 1 manufacturer that seem to indicate Abrams losses through Sep of 06 at less than 25 units.
The same Asia times articles claim that in total the US has lost over 1000 veihicles total. 1000/20 is 2% So Abrams make up jsut 2% of the combat losses. Israel lost more thanks than that in 30 days, Russia lost more than that in 3 days. |
Zraver,
My point was that the RPG threat is typically overblown by armchair generals on the web, as per migo's post, where he stated that his relatives thought highly of the M1 vs. RPG.
As far as your numbers, they are off. There have been far more combat loss Abrams, which should be somewhere in the 100-300 range by now. Not all are catastrophic kills (these should range around 30, as the Army Times reported back in Jan 2006 that the # was 20), with the majority requiring complete depot rebuilds (not overhaul, but rebuild). As an example, 1CAV had
28 M1 combat losses during their time in Sadr City in 2004-5.