New Way to Destroy U.S. Abrams Tanks Shown by North Korea

North Korean state media has released footage showing a single use attack drone destroying a mockup of a U.S. Army M1 Abrams main battle tank during a weapons demonstration on October 29. Images published by the Korean Central News Agency show a loitering munition diving steeply towards the sand-coloured target before a subsequent frame depicts a large explosion. The munitions in question were showcased at the exhibition. The demonstration formed part of Pyongyang’s expanding efforts to develop unmanned attack systems capable of striking adversary assets, including lower level ground equipment such as tanks. 

The release of the footage of an Abrams tank being targeted is particularly notable due to the capture of several of the tanks in the Ukrainian theatre, which has provided Russian and North Korean forces with opportunities to study them. The delivery of a captured Leopard 2 tank to North Korea has been confirmed, although that of the Abrams has not. It is highly likely that detailed intelligence on the vehicle has have been shared with the Korean People’s Army and North Korea’s defence sector however. Abrams tanks supplied by the United States were first used in combat in February 2024, and quickly took extreme losses. Despite multiple withdrawal from the frontlines and extensive efforts to improve armour protection levels, by early June 2025 the Ukrainian Army was  assessed to have lost 87 percent of the vehicles, most of which were destroyed while some were abandoned and captured. 

Western tanks’ viability for modern warfare has been widely questioned, as their emphasis on heavy armour protection is considered far from optimal in an era of drone warfare. Ukrainain personnel interviewed have lamented that the Abrams’ greatest weakness was that “It’s very tall — and very large — so it’s hard to conceal,” which has been a key factor in its vulnerability to drone strikes. Footage has shown the tanks being destroyed by loitering munitions in the theatre similar to the one seen in North Korean service. The development of a wide range of advanced types of unmanned aircraft is expected to compensate for North Korea’s longstanding shortcomings in the air domain, as the country has been unable to procure new fighter types for approximately a quarter of a century.