Russia Readies Robotic Response To 'Secret Armor-Less' Abrams Tanks In Donbas

 Western media outlets flooded the airways with hope for Ukraine this week as the US prepares to send 31 main battle tanks to the wartorn country in Eastern Europe to counter Russian aggression ahead of spring. What wasn't highly publicized is that these M1 Abrams are a modified version and will be stripped of "secret" uranium armor. 

Following the news of NATO-made tanks set to flood Ukraine, the former head of Russia's space agency Dmitry Rogozin told the Russian newspaper Pravda that "Marker," a new robo-tank, will be able to 'destroy Western tanks, including American Abrams and German Leopards.' 

Rogozin explained the robot tank automatically recognizes and attacks Ukrainian equipment, including NATO tanks, all because of its artificial intelligence system and machine learning technology. 

"The combat version of the Marker robot has an electronic catalog in the control system that contains images of targets both in the visible and in the infrared range," he said.

The director of the Air Defense Museum, retired colonel Yuri Knutov, told Lenta.Ru, a Russian newspaper, "the robot can thus identify NATO-made tanks" and will be "armed with a machine gun and an anti-tank missile with a range of up to about six kilometers." 

On Wednesday, Rogozin wrote on his Telegram Channel:

"The shock version of the Marker robot, which will enter the special operation zone [Donbas] in February, will be able to automatically detect and hit Ukrainian equipment, including American Abrams tanks and German Leopard tanks."

One major issue Ukanian forces might encounter with the M1 Abrams, besides weight and a gas-guzzling turbine engine, is that these are older versions and stripped of "secret" uranium armor. This could mean these tanks are vulnerable. 

According to Politico, the export of Abrams with classified armor is forbidden as there are fears the tanks, if captured, could be reverse-engineered. 

The lingering question is if these stripped-down Abrams can withstand an anti-tank rocket. 

Or better yet, one from a Russian robot tank. 

https://www.zerohedge.com/military/russia-readies-robotic-response-secret-armor-less-abrams-tanks-dobas