Oh, that downgraded export version myth again....
Yes, they existed. Soviet Union never sent its top of the line military equipment to volatile Third World countries,
where they could easily fall into the hands of American intelligence operatives.
How many not downgraded T-72 and T-80s Chechens destroyed in Grozny?
I've said that before and I'll say it again: Russian losses during the disastrous attempt at storming Grozny on the New Year's Eve of 1995 weren't caused by the extreme inferiority of the tanks themselves.
Maskhadov & Co. should have declared the entire Russian General Staff heroes of Ichkeria - sending tanks and APC without infantry support in a city full of militants with RPGs was a suicidal move showing the incompetence of Russian generals.
The same T-72 and T-80 tanks also participated in the Second Chechen War against the same Chechens with the same RPGs - the Russian Army didn't lose several hundred tanks and APCs like in 1995. If they were so inferior, why did the Chechens fail to destroy them as easily as in the previous war?
Also, here's another example - 8-9 August 2008, South Ossetia. South Ossetian and Russian troops defended Tskhinvali against the Georgian assault. Both Georgians and Russians had T-72 tanks, which were used during urban combat. T-72s didn't prove themselves as vulnerable as in 1995's Grozny. I wonder why...
I know you'll say that Abrams would fare no better. But we both know that is untrue.
It depends on which RPG you would use. Old RPG-7 wouldn't fare much against Abrams tanks, but the newer
RPG-29 would easily penetrate its armour. Iraqi insurgents successfully used them against
American and
British tanks - unfortunately for them, they had very few RPG-29s.
Israeli Merkava tanks were also no match against Hezbollah militants with RPG-29s in Lebanon.These tanks do not appear to have the appropriate camo.
These are Bradley APCs, not tanks, and just like UR said, it isn't too hard to repaint them.