Images of destroyed Russian "tanks" and wrecked convoys in Ukraine have filled social media in recent weeks, but are these images a bigger trend or just isolated incidents?

According to some reports, such as the one published by Insider, Russia has certainly lost tanks and other equipment that were captured or destroyed by the Ukrainians, and the news organization estimates that 10% of Russian military equipment has been destroyed.

But this may not be accurate.

Most of these losses appear to be caused by Javelin or FGM-148 missiles from the West and next-generation light anti-tank weapons called NLAWs, which were specifically designed as Anti-tank weapons.

So, the Russian losses should come as no surprise.

Is this the end of the age of tanks?

Some experts claim that we may see the end of tanks as an effective military weapon.

Some claim that the tank may soon be preserved in museums along with the chariot and cavalry.

One of the main problems is differentiating what is a "real" tank from other "tank-like" military vehicles.

While the definition of a tank has changed over time, today the term generally refers to what are known as main battle tanks.

Other armored vehicles, such as armored personnel carriers, self-propelled artillery, and other motorized infantry transports, are often categorized as tanks in news reports, although technically they should not be.

The site Oryx, which records losses in the war, breaks down Russian vehicle losses by technical category, making it much easier to gauge the extent of Russian losses.

According to Oryx, somewhere in Ukraine Russia lost 279 tanks, of which 116 were destroyed, 4 damaged, and 41 abandoned.

Ukrainian forces captured about 118. This number may seem large, but the Russian Federation has 12,240 battle tanks.

However, most of these 12,240 tanks are old Soviet-era designs, such as the T-72, which are more than 50 years old.

Turkish drones such as the "TP2" were used by the Ukrainian (German) forces.

Why is Russia losing so many tanks in Ukraine?

As many military experts have pointed out, the main problem appears to be Russia's inability to adequately supply and maintain hardware.

So far, most of the combat vehicles we've seen in action are not well maintained, and the supply lines seem to be near breaking point.

Not only that, but large units such as tanks appear to have been left exposed without either infantry or air support, a critical point for these powerful weapons of war.

There is the enemy organization factor. The United States, for example, lost some of its most advanced tanks during the Battle of Medina Ridge, one of the longest tank battles in modern times that took place on February 27, 1991 during the second Gulf War between the division The first American armored vehicle and the second brigade of the Iraqi Republican Guard, and that was because of the tight organization of the Iraqi forces across its lines.

Light technology eliminates tanks

All of these hypotheses may be the reason why the Russians lost many battle tanks, but the hypothesis that experts believe holds the answer to this question is technical progress in the field of anti-tank weapons.

Modern anti-tank missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles have a significant impact on resolving the current battles.

The use of drones has aroused the interest of military analysts in the conflict in Ukraine.

Turkish drones such as the TB2 are excellently used by the Ukrainian forces, as these drones can directly attack tanks or be used for surveillance.

“We are actually seeing a significant impact of the Ukrainian military’s use of Bayraktar drones, and other smaller aircraft, against Russian armored vehicles,” former US Army officer Paul Schaar told Insider. “The drones can be very effective in contested skies, in part because of this. to its ability to fly at a low altitude, and in part because you don't risk a pilot."

The administration of US President Joe Biden has sent 100 "Switchblade" drones to Ukraine, a single-use air vehicle the size of a backpack, and that can take armored vehicles out of battle by flying over them and directly colliding with them to detonate them in a "kami-kaz" style. ".

The other technical weapon that analysts expect to have helped Ukrainian forces stop Russian tank columns from invading Kyiv is the Next Generation Light Anti-tank (NLAW).

The Swedish-designed British weapon is the next generation of light anti-tank weapons and is relatively easy to use.

Lightweight and portable on the shoulder, the trigger tracks a target within half a mile for a few seconds and then fires.

A technical system guides the missile towards the target.

NLAW is designed exactly for urban warfare as it is in Ukraine.

"The NLAW can attack from almost any location, from the top of a building to behind a tree or into a hole," the weapons manufacturer SAAB declares on its website. A building, from the basement or from the second floor of a building outside the range of most tanks."