M1 Abrams

M1 Abrams 

The M1 Abrams tank of the United States is a third generation main battle tank named after General Creighton Abrams. This 60-72 short tons (depending on the version) tank operated by a 4 man crew is highly mobile, heavily armed and heavily armored. Developed by Chrysler Defense (now General Dynamics Land Systems) during the Cold War, the tank first entered service in 1980 with the United States Army and the United States Marine Corps and currently have three main versions deployed. The M1, M1A1 and M1A2.

M1A1 Abrams 

In the year 1979-85, about 3,273 M1 Abrams tanks were produced. The earlier version of the M1 used the M68A1 105mm rifled tank gun with a license-made tube of the British Royal Ordnance L7 gun together with the vertical sliding breech block and other parts of the American prototype gun T254E2. The gun can fire a variety of high explosive anti-tank, high-explosive, white phosphorus and an anti-personnel (multiple flechette) round. However, a cannon with lethality beyond 3 km was needed. From 1986-92 about 5,000 M1A1 tanks were produced. The M1A1 which is an upgraded version of the M1 is armed with the much stronger M256 120mm smoothbore cannon designed by Rheinmetall AG of Germany. The gun can fire the M829A2 APFSDS round that was specifically developed to counter Russian tanks equipped with Kontakt-5 ERA and the high-explosive anti-tank warhead shaped charged rounds such as the M830. Another variant, the M1A2 is also equipped with the M256 120mm smoothbore cannon, production and upgrades of the M1 to M1A2 version began in 1986 and entered service in 1992. Secondary armaments for the Abrams tank are .50 cal. M2HB machine gun in front of the commander's station, M240 machine gun in front of the loader’s hatch on a skate mount and a second M240 machine gun in a coaxial mount to the right of the main gun operated with the same computerized firing control system of the main gun. An optional second coaxial 12.7mm M2HB can be directly mounted above the main turret. The Abrams is using a ballistic fire-control computer that uses user and system supplied data to compute, display and incorporate the three components of a ballistic solution-lead angle, ammunition type and range to target accurately and fire the main gun.

The armor for the M1 and M1A1 is the Burlington composite armor while the M1A2 is using depleted uranium mesh-reinforced composite armor. Abrams tanks are also equipped with two six-barreled smoke grenade launchers (USMC M1A1’s are equipped with eight-barelled version) that can create thick smoke that blocks both vision and thermal imaging and the AN/VLQ-6 Missile Countermeasure Device (MCD) mounted on the turret roof in front of the loader’s hatch. The MCD works by emitting a massive condensed infrared signal to confuse the infrared homing seeker of an anti-tank guided-missile like the semi-active control line-of-sight (SACLOS) wire and radio guided anti-tank missiles and infrared homing missiles. Some Abrams are equipped with Softkill Active protective system. A Halon fire fighting system automatically extinguish in case of fire inside the cabin plus a small hand-held fire extinguisher inside the crew compartment can be use in case of emergency. The firefighting system for the engine is activated by pulling a T-handle on the left side of the tank. For further protection of the crew the fuel and ammunitions are stored in an armored compartments with blowout panels.

M1A2 Abrams 

The Abrams is powered by a Honeywell AGT 1500 multi-fuel gas turbine that is capable of 1,500 shaft horsepower at 3,000 RPM with a six speed (4 forward and 2 reverse) Allison X-1100-3B Hydro-Kinetic Automatic Transmission. The M1A1 have a max-speed of 45 mph on smooth terrain and 30 mph at rough grounds. The M1A2 on the other hand have a max-speed of 42 mph on the road and 25 mph off-road. Though the engine can use almost all kind of fuel, the US is using JP-8. The JP-8 is the universal fuel of the US military for their aircraft and vehicle fleets.

The M1 Abrams tank have been in service since 1980 and currently operated by the US and 6 other countries. It's been used in three wars and one of the high points for the tank was in the Iraq War. About 18 miles south of Baghdad M1A1s destroyed seven T-72s in a point-blank skirmish (less than 50 yards) with no American losses. With continuous upgrades the M1 Abrams is expected to be in service for more years to come.

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