It’s a sad commentary on the United States right now that we seem to not be able to make military equipment. The F35 debacle speaks for itself. The Navy has so many problems with the Littoral ships and the latest aircraft carrier that you can write books about it.
Well, in an equal opportunity moment, it appears that the Army isn’t immune either.
At the “battle” of Kirkuk, Kurds armed what seems to be 1970s technology Chinese anti-tank missiles destroyed a US Army M1A1 tank owned and operated by the Iraqi army.
This isn’t a rare occurrence. ISIS destroyed Iraqi M1A1 tanks in the beginning of the war near Mosul. They even captured some and operate them. Hezbollah has at least one M1A1 tank. It’s not mobile, but the guns still work and they tow it into battle! Houthi rebels in Yemen are destroying Saudi Arabian M1 tanks with anti-tank missiles.
The US is currently spending $20 million per tank for 1000 M1 tanks to upgrade the turrets with all sorts of high tech.
Meanwhile the Russians are fielding their T90 and Armata tanks which are clearly marked improvements on older tank technology and perhaps are the best in the world. A complete, latest version of the T90 costs $4.5 million. Read more here.