Known as Armor Piercing Fin Stabilized Discarding Sabot (APFSDS) rounds, British and US ammunition (M829A4) use depleted uranium for penetrator rods. These penetrator rods can be made out of hardened steel, tungsten (wolfram) or depleted uranium. The composite armor is designed to thwart shaped charge ammunition (like that found in HEAT tank ammunition) and against ammunition that uses a penetrator rod to essentially burn through armor. This type of armor combines steel plates with a non-steel material between two armor steel plates, sometimes with multiple levels and materials. The earliest form of NERA was known as Chobham armor because it was developed at the British Tank Research Center in Chobham, Surrey. Instead, they rely on the built-in tank armor known as NERA (non-energetic reactive armor). None of the tanks being supplied are equipped with reactive armor. This behemoth weighs 69 tons, too heavy for many bridges in Ukraine and not suited to function on heavily mudded secondary roads. The British have sent the first Challenger 2 tanks to Ukraine.

They should be arriving in the next two months, perhaps even sooner. The US is refurbishing Abrams M-1 tanks for Ukraine. Two different series of Leopard tanks are being sent to Ukraine, older Leopard-1 A-5s and Leopard 2 A-4 and A-6 tanks. The Leopard 2 series is regarded as one of the best-designed main battle tanks, comparing favorably to the US M1 Abrams, the Russian T-90 and the Israeli Merkava.

The German-made tanks are known as Leopards. But these tanks have some well-known weaknesses and the Russians are likely ready for them. Worse still, none of them have active defense systems, a critically important way of protecting tanks and tank crews from modern antitank weapons. German, British and American main battle tanks either already have arrived in Ukraine or will soon be on their way.