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Conflict in Ukraine deals heavy blow to idea of US weapons superiority — journalist

The article’s headline said the conflict ripped the veil off of US weapons superiority

WASHINGTON, May 29. /TASS/. The conflict in Ukraine has exposed multiple setbacks in US weapons, dispelling the illusion of their superiority, journalist Andrew Cockburn said in an article for the Responsible Statecraft news website.

The standoff between Russia and Ukraine "has pitilessly exposed our defense system’s deep, underlying, faults," he wrote.

The article’s headline said the conflict ripped the veil off of US weapons superiority.

As examples of poor performance, Cockburn pointed to Abrams tanks, which often broke down and proved vulnerable to Russian attack drones, and M777 howitzers, which "proved too delicate for the rough conditions of sustained combat."

The author said that the machines, even though they were praised in US and Ukrainian news media, were quickly put out of action by Russian forces, and some of them were brought to a display of NATO weaponry in Moscow. As Russian troops steadily advance in the Kharkov Region, he said it is becoming ever more obvious that the conflict in Ukraine "has been a disaster for the US defense machine."

Russian officials have repeatedly stated that funneling weapons into Ukraine will not diminish Russia’s resolve or change the course of the special military operation in Ukraine. Earlier in May, then-Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu said Ukrainian losses so far in 2024 had totaled more than 111,000 people and 21,000 units of weapons and military equipment.