M1 Abrams
M1A1 on a live fire exercise in Iraq, 2003
Type	Main battle tank
Place of origin	United States
Service history
Used by	United States, Australia, Egypt, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia
Wars	Gulf War, Iraq War
Production history
Designer	Chrysler Defense
Designed	1970s
Manufacturer	General Dynamics
Unit cost	US$4. Tank classification is a Taxonomy of identifying either the intended role or weight class of Tanks The classification by role was used primarily during The United States of America —commonly referred to as the The United States of America —commonly referred to as the For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Australia topics. This article is about the country of Egypt For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Egypt topics. The State of Kuwait ( دولة الكويت IPA [dawlatt̪ alkuwajt̪]) is a sovereign Arab Emirate on the coast of the Persian Gulf, enclosed The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, KSA ( المملكة العربية السعودية, al-Mamlaka al-ʻArabiyya as-Suʻūdiyya) or Suudi The Iraq War, also known as the Second Gulf War, the Occupation of Iraq, or the War in Iraq, is an ongoing Military campaign General Dynamics Corporation ( is a defense conglomerate formed by Mergers and Divestitures and as of 2008 it is the fifth largest Defense contractor 35 million (M1A2)[1]
Produced	1979–present
Variants	M1A1, M1A2, M1A2SEP
Specifications
Weight	67. 6 short tons (61. The short ton ( S/T) is a unit of mass equal to 2000 lb (around 907 4 tonnes)
Length	Gun forward: 32. This article is about the tonne or metric ton For other tons see Ton. 04 ft (9. 77 m) Hull length: 26. 02 ft (7. 93 m)
Width	12 ft (3. 66 m)
Height	8 ft (2. 44 m)
Crew	4 (commander, gunner, loader, driver)
Armor	Chobham, RHA
Primary armament	105 mm M68 rifled cannon (M1) 120 mm M256 smoothbore cannon (M1A1, M1A2, M1A2SEP)
Secondary armament	1 x . For body armour see Armour, for armoured forces see Armoured warfare, for other uses see Armour (disambiguation. Chobham armour is the name informally given to a Composite armour developed in the 1960s at the British Tank research centre on Chobham Common Rolled homogeneous armour, or RHA is a basic type of steel plate used as a baseline to compare the effectiveness of military Vehicle armour. The Royal Ordnance L7 is the basic model of Britain's most successful Tank gun. The Rheinmetall 120 mm gun is a Smoothbore Tank gun designed and produced by the German Smoothbore refers to a Firearm or Cannon which does not have a rifled barrel. 50-caliber (12. 7 mm) M2HB heavy machine gun 2 x M240 7.62 mm machine guns (1 pintle-mounted, 1 coaxial)
Engine	AGT-1500C multi-fuel turbine engine 1500 hp (1119 kW)
Power/weight	24. This article is about the.50 caliber M2 machine gun For the.30-06 M2 machine gun see M1919 Browning machine gun. A heavy machine gun refers to either a larger-caliber high-power Machine gun or one of the smaller medium-caliber (rifle caliber machine guns meant for prolonged firing from The 762x51mm NATO is a Rifle cartridge developed in the 1950s as a standard firearm cartridge among NATO countries For other uses of the phrase see Machine Gun (disambiguation. 5 hp/tonne
Transmission	Allison DDA X-1100-3B
Suspension	Torsion bar
Ground clearance	0. A torsion bar suspension, also known as a Torsion spring suspension or incorrectly torsion beam, is a general term for any Vehicle suspension 48 m (M1, M1A1) 0. 43 m (M1A2)
Operational range	465. 29 km (289 mi) With NBC system: 449. 19 km (279 mi)
Speed	Road: 67. 72 km/h (42 mph) Off-road: 48. 3 km/h (30 mph)

The M1 Abrams is a main battle tank produced in the United States. Tank classification is a Taxonomy of identifying either the intended role or weight class of Tanks The classification by role was used primarily during The United States of America —commonly referred to as the The M1 is named after General Creighton Abrams, former Army Chief of Staff and commander of the 37th Armored Regiment. Creighton Williams Abrams Jr ( September 15 1914 – September 4 1974) was a United States Army General who commanded military The Chief of Staff of the United States Army ( CSA) is the highest ranking officer in the United States Army and is member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff The 37th Armor is an armor (tank regiment of the United States Army. It is a well armed, heavily armored, and highly mobile tank designed for modern armored ground warfare. Armoured warfare or tank warfare is the use of Armoured fighting vehicles in Modern warfare. Notable features of the M1 Abrams include the use of a powerful gas turbine engine, the adoption of sophisticated composite armor, and separate ammunition storage in a blow-out compartment for crew safety. A gas turbine, also called a combustion turbine, is a rotary Engine that extracts energy from a flow of Combustion gas Composite armour is a type of Vehicle armour consisting of layers of different material such as Metals Plastics, Ceramics or Air It is one of the heaviest tanks in service, weighing in at close to 70 tons.

The M1 Abrams entered U. S. service in 1980, replacing the M60 Patton and M48A5. The M60 Patton was the fourth and last of the Patton series medium tanks of the U The M48 Patton was one of the US army 's principal Main battle tanks of the Cold War, with models in service from the early 1950s on through the 1990s It did, however, serve for over a decade alongside the improved M60A3, which had entered service in 1978. The M60 Patton was the fourth and last of the Patton series medium tanks of the U Three main versions of the M1 Abrams have been deployed, the M1, M1A1, and M1A2, incorporating improved armament, protection and electronics. These improvements, as well as periodic upgrades to older tanks have allowed this long-serving vehicle to remain in front-line service. It is the principal combat tank of the United States Army and Marine Corps, and the armies of Egypt, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and as of 2007, Australia. The United States Army is a military organization whose primary mission is to "provide necessary forces and capabilities. The Egyptian Army is the largest service branch within the Egyptian military establishment. Kuwaiti Army is the primary land force of the Military of Kuwait. History 1902 is considered to be the birth year of the Saudi Army when 63 men led by King Abdulaziz Ibn Saud supported by the Kuwaiti Prince Mubarak Al-Sabah The Australian Army is Australia's military land force It is part of the Australian Defence Force (ADF along with the Royal Australian Navy and the

Background

The first attempt to replace the aging M60 series of tanks was the abortive MBT-70, developed in partnership with West Germany. The MBT-70 was a 1960s joint German - US -project to develop a new Main battle tank using a number of advanced design features West Germany ( Inf German: Westdeutschland or West-Deutschland) was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany ( The M60 Patton was itself a gradual evolution of a design starting with the World War II era M26 Pershing, with a very tall profile, and average armor and weaponry compared to the contemporary Soviet designs. World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including The Heavy Tank M26 Pershing was an American heavy tank used during World War II and the Korean War. The MBT-70 was very ambitious, like many American weapons programs of the 1960s. It had a gun launched missile system, kneeling suspension, a driver housed in the turret, and various other ideas that ultimately proved unsuccessful. Cancellation of this project paved the way for the much more successful M1 Abrams tank, which did not incorporate most of the troublesome innovations tried by the MBT-70.

Development

The M1 Abrams was designed by Chrysler Defense (in 1979, General Dynamics Land Systems Division purchased Chrysler Defense Division) and is currently produced by General Dynamics Corporation in Lima, Ohio, and first entered US Army service in 1980. General Dynamics Corporation ( is a defense conglomerate formed by Mergers and Divestitures and as of 2008 it is the fifth largest Defense contractor Lima (ˈlaɪmə is a city in the US state of Ohio and the County seat of Allen County. An improved version of the M1, the M1A1, was introduced in 1985. The M1A1 has the M256 120 mm smoothbore cannon developed by Rheinmetall AG of Germany for the Leopard 2, improved armor, and a CBRN protection system. The Rheinmetall 120 mm gun is a Smoothbore Tank gun designed and produced by the German Smoothbore refers to a Firearm or Cannon which does not have a rifled barrel. | NOTE Throughout this article "cannon" is used as BOTH the || singular and plural Rheinmetall AG is a German Automotive and defense company with factories in Düsseldorf, Kassel and Unterlüß Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany ( ˈbʊndəsʁepuˌbliːk ˈdɔʏtʃlant is a Country in Central Europe. The Leopard 2 is a German Main battle tank developed by Krauss-Maffei in the early 1970s and first entering service in 1979 CBRN is an acronym referring to Chemical Biological Radiological and Nuclear. The M1A2 is a further improvement of the M1A1 with a commander's independent thermal viewer and weapon station, position navigation equipment, digital data bus and a radio interface unit. The M1A2 SEP-(System Enhancement Package) added digital maps, FBCB2-(Force XXI Battlefield Command Brigade and Below) capabilities, and an improved cooling system to maintain crew compartment temperature with the addition of multiple computer systems to the M1A2 tank. Force XXI Battlefield Command Brigade and Below (FBCB2 is a communication platform designed for commanders to track Friendly forces on the Battlefield.

A left front view of the XM1 Abrams tank, which replaced the M60 series, during a demonstration on the test range in 1979. The M60 Patton was the fourth and last of the Patton series medium tanks of the U

Further upgrades include depleted uranium armor for all variants, a system overhaul that returns all A1s to like-new condition (M1A1 AIM), a digital enhancement package for the A1 (M1A1D), a commonality program to standardize parts between the U. Depleted uranium (DU is Uranium primarily composed of the Isotope Uranium-238 (U-238 Armour (or armor) is protective covering most commonly manufactured from metals to prevent damage from being inflicted to an individual or a vehicle through use of direct contact S. Army and the Marine Corps (M1A1HC) and an electronic upgrade for the A2 (M1A2 SEP).

During Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm and for Bosnia, some M1A1s were modified with armor upgrades. Bosnia and Herzegovina ( Latin script: Bosna i Hercegovina, Cyrillic script: Босна и Херцеговина is a country on the Balkan The M1 can be equipped with mine plow and mine roller attachments if needed. A mine plow ( plough in British English) is a Tank -mounted device designed to clear a lane through a minefield allowing other vehicles to follow The M1 chassis also serves as a basis for the Grizzly combat engineering vehicle and the M104 Wolverine heavy assault bridge. The M1 Abrams is a main battle tank produced in the United States. The M104 Wolverine Heavy Assault Bridge is an armored Combat engineering vehicle designed to provide deployable Bridge capability for units engaged in

Over 8,800 M1 and M1A1 tanks have been produced at a cost of $2,350,000–$4,300,000 per unit, depending on the variant.

Design features

Armor

Tankers of the 1st Armored Division drive an M1 Abrams tank through the Taunus Mountains north of Frankfurt during Exercise Ready Crucible on February 14, 2005. The 1st Armored Division &mdashnicknamed “ Old Ironsides ”&mdash is a standing armored division of the United States Army with base of operations The Taunus is a low mountain range in Hesse, Germany that composes part of the Rhenish Slate Mountains. Events 842 - Charles the Bald and Louis the German swear the Oaths of Strasbourg in the French and German Year 2005 ( MMV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar of the Gregorian calendar.

The Abrams is protected by Chobham armor, a further development of British "Burlington" armor. Chobham armour is the name informally given to a Composite armour developed in the 1960s at the British Tank research centre on Chobham Common Chobham is a composite armor formed by spacing multiple layers of various alloys of steel, ceramics, plastic composites, and kevlar, giving an estimated maximum (frontal turret) 1320-1620 millimeters of RHAe versus HEAT (and other chemical energy rounds) and 940-960 mm versus kinetic energy penetrators. Steel is an Alloy consisting mostly of Iron, with a Carbon content between 0 The word ceramic is derived from the Greek word κεραμικός ( keramikos) Rolled homogeneous armour, or RHA is a basic type of steel plate used as a baseline to compare the effectiveness of military Vehicle armour. A kinetic energy penetrator (also known as a KE weapon) is a type of Ammunition which like a Bullet, does not contain Explosives and uses ^[2] It may also be fitted with reactive armor over the track skirts if needed (as in the Urban Survival Kit) and Slat armor over the rear of the tank and rear fuel cells to protect against ATGMs. Reactive armour is a type of Vehicle armour that reacts in some way to the impact of a weapon to reduce the damage done to the vehicle being protected Fuel and ammunition are in armored compartments with blowout panels to protect the crew from the risk of the tank's own ammunition cooking off if the tank is damaged. Cooking off (or thermally induced firing) refers to Ammunition exploding prematurely due to heat in the surrounding environment Protection against spalling is provided by a Kevlar liner. Spall are flakes of a material that are broken off a larger solid body and can be produced by a variety of mechanisms including as a result of Projectile impact Corrosion Kevlar is the registered Trademark for a light strong para-aramid Synthetic fiber, related to other Aramids such as Nomex and Beginning in 1987, M1A1 tanks received improved armor packages that incorporated depleted uranium (DU) mesh in their armor at the front of the turret and the front of the hull. Armor reinforced in this manner offers significantly increased resistance towards all types of anti-tank weaponry, but at the expense of adding considerable weight to the tank.

The first M1A1 tanks to receive this upgrade were tanks stationed in Germany, since they were the first line of defense against the Soviet Union. US-based tank battalions participating in Operation Desert Storm received an emergency program to upgrade their tanks with depleted uranium armor immediately before the onset of the campaign. M1A2 tanks uniformly incorporate depleted uranium armor, and all M1A1 tanks in active service have been upgraded to this standard as well, the armor thickness believed to be equivalent to 24 inches (610 mm) of RHA. Rolled homogeneous armour, or RHA is a basic type of steel plate used as a baseline to compare the effectiveness of military Vehicle armour. The strength of the armor is estimated to be about the same as similar western, contemporary main battle tanks such as the Leopard 2. The M1A1/M1A2 can survive multiple hits from the most powerful tank munitions (including 120 mm depleted uranium APFSDS) and anti-tank missiles. In the Persian Gulf War, Abrams tanks survived multiple hits at relatively close ranges from Iraqi T-72s and ATGMs. For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Iraq topics. The T-72 is a Soviet -designed Main battle tank that entered production in 1971 An anti-tank guided missile ( ATGM) or anti-tank guided weapon ( ATGW) is a guided Missile primarily designed to hit and destroy M829A1 "Silver Bullet" APFSDS rounds from other M1A1 Abrams were unable to penetrate the front and side armor (even at close ranges) in friendly fire incidents as well as an incident in which another Abrams tried to destroy an Abrams that got stuck in mud and had to be abandoned. The M829 is an American first-generation Armor-Piercing Fin-Stabilized Discarding Sabot ( APFSDS) tank round designed specifically for the 120 mm M256 main gun A kinetic energy penetrator (also known as a KE weapon) is a type of Ammunition which like a Bullet, does not contain Explosives and uses ^[3]

In addition to the advanced armor, some Abrams, are equipped with a Missile Countermeasure Device that can impede the function of guidance systems of semiactive control line-of-sight (SACLOS) wire and radio guided anti-tank guided missiles (Russian AT-3, AT-4, AT-5, AT-6 and the like) and thermally and infrared guided missiles. (ATGM)[2]. This device is mounted on the turret roof in front of the Loader's hatch, and can lead some people to mistake Abrams fitted with these devices for the M1A2 version, since the Commander's Independent Thermal Viewer on the latter is mounted in the same place, though the MCD is box-shaped and fixed in place as opposed to cylindrical and rotating like the CITV.

On the off chance that the Abrams does suffer damage resulting in a fire in the crew compartment, the tank is equipped with a halon fire-suppression system that automatically engages and extinguishes fires in seconds. Gaseous fire suppression is a term to describe the use of inert Gases and chemical agents to extinguish a Fire.

Armament

U.S. Marine M1A1 firing in Najaf Province, Iraq during a training exercise. Najaf province (النجف An-Najaf) is a province in the nation of Iraq. For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Iraq topics.

Main armament

M68A1 rifled gun

The main armament of the original model M1 was the M68A1 105 mm rifled tank gun firing a variety of high explosive anti-tank (HEAT), high explosive, white phosphorus, and a highly efficient and lethal anti-personnel (multiple flechette) round. Rifling refers to the Helix -shaped pattern in the barrel of a Firearm, which imparts a spin to a Projectile around its long axis A tank gun is the main armament of a Tank. Modern tank guns are large- Caliber high-velocity guns capable of firing Kinetic energy penetrators An explosive material is a material that either is chemically or otherwise Energetically unstable or produces a sudden expansion of the material usually accompanied This article is about the military applications of white phosphorus. An anti-personnel Weapon is one primarily used to injure or kill people. The French word fléchette means "little arrow" or Dart projectile of steel that is sharp and pointed with a vaned tail for stable flight This gun is a license-built version of the British Royal Ordnance L7 gun. The Royal Ordnance L7 is the basic model of Britain's most successful Tank gun. While being a reliable weapon and widely used by both NATO and former Warsaw Pact nations alike, a cannon with lethality beyond the 3 kilometer range was needed to combat newer armor technologies. To attain that lethality, projectile diameter needed to be increased. The M68A1's performance in terms of accuracy and armor-piercing penetration is on par with the M256A1 up to 3000 meters out, but beyond that range the 105mm projectile lacks the kinetic energy to defeat modern armor packages.

M256 smoothbore gun

Washington Army National Guard soldier from 81st Armor Brigade, sets the sights on the main gun of an M1A1 Abrams in Mosul, Iraq in January 2005. The Washington Army National Guard is composed of both Army National Guard and Air National Guard units for the state of Washington. The 81st Armored Brigade Combat Team is a modular Brigade of the United States Army National Guard in Washington and California. For the village in Azerbaijan see Mosul Azerbaijan. Mosul (الموصل Al Mūṣul, Kurdish: Mosul/Ninawa, Musul

The main armament of the M1A1 and M1A2 is the M256A1 120 mm smoothbore gun, designed by Rheinmetall AG of Germany. Rheinmetall AG is a German Automotive and defense company with factories in Düsseldorf, Kassel and Unterlüß The M256A1 is a variant of the Rheinmetall 120 mm L/44 gun carried on the German Leopard 2 on all variants up to the Leopard 2A5. The Rheinmetall 120 mm gun is a Smoothbore Tank gun designed and produced by the German Leopard 2A6 replaced the L/44 barrel with a longer L/55. The newer M256A1 is manufactured under license in the United States by Watervliet Arsenal, New York. The Watervliet Arsenal is an Arsenal of the United States Army located in Watervliet New York, on the west bank of the Hudson River.

Rounds like the M829A2 were developed specifically to address the threats posed by a T-90 or T-80U tank, given their high level of protection provided the tanks by kontakt-5 Explosive Reactive Armor, and HEAT shaped charge rounds such as the M830, the latest version of which (M830A1) incorporates a sophisticated multi-mode electronic sensing fuse and more fragmentation which allows it to be used effectively against armored vehicles, personnel, and low-flying aircraft. The M829 is an American first-generation Armor-Piercing Fin-Stabilized Discarding Sabot ( APFSDS) tank round designed specifically for the 120 mm M256 main gun The GPO Uralvagonzavod T-90 is a Russian main battle tank derived from the T-72, and is currently the most modern tank in the Russian The T-80 is a Main battle tank which was designed in the Soviet Union and entered service in 1976 Kontakt-5 is a type of third-generation explosive reactive Armour originating in the Soviet Union. A shaped charge is an Explosive charge shaped to focus the effect of the explosive's energy The M830 is an American High explosive anti-tank (HEAT round meant primarily for the 120 mm M256 main gun of the M1A1 and M1A2 Abrams In an Explosive, Pyrotechnic device or military Munition, a fuse (or fuze) is the part of the device that initiates function Unlike the Soviet-built tanks it was designed to go up against, the Abrams uses a manual loader rather than an automatic device, due to the belief that having a person reload the gun is faster and more reliable. This decision was proven out as the Soviet-era automatic loading system proved troublesome. Also important in the decision to use a crewmember instead of an automatic loader during the XM-1 development was the fact that autoloaders of the day did not allow for separate ammunition storage in the turret like the M1 was developed with.

A Marine M1A1 Abrams, 2nd Tank Battalion, fires its main gun into a building to provide suppressive counter fire against insurgents in Fallujah, Al Anbar Province, Iraq during Operation Al Fajr, 2004. For other meanings see Fallujah (disambiguation. Fallujah (الفلوجة sometimes transliterated Al Anbar (الأنبار al-’Anbār or Anbar) is the largest province in Iraq geographically

The new M1028 120 mm anti-personnel canister cartridge was brought into service early for use in the aftermath of the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Canister shot (or Case-shot) was a kind of Anti-personnel Ammunition used in Cannons It was similar to Grapeshot in which Iraq War|2007 in Iraq|2008 in IraqThe post-invasion period in Iraq It contains 1,098 3/8 inch steel ball projectiles which spread from the muzzle to produce a shotgun effect lethal out to 600 m. A shotgun (also known as a scattergun) is a Firearm that is usually designed to be fired from the shoulder which uses the energy of a fixed shell to fire a number The steel balls can be used to clear enemy dismounts, break up hasty ambush sites in urban areas, clear defiles, stop infantry attacks and counter-attacks and support friendly infantry assaults by providing cover-by-fire. Defile is a geographic term for a narrow pass or gorge between mountains or hills The Canister round is also a highly effective breeching round and can level cinder block walls and knock man-sized holes in reinforced concrete walls for infantry raids at distances up to 75 meters.

In addition to this, the new MRM-KE (Mid-Range-Munition Kinetic Energy) is also in development. The XM1111 Mid-Range Munition (MRM is a developmental 120 mm Precision guided munition for use by the Rheinmetall 120mm Gun (known as the "M256" in the Essentially a cannon-fired guided round, it has a range of roughly 12 km and uses a KE warhead which is rocket assisted in its final phase of flight. This is intended to be the best penetrator yet, an improvement over the US 3rd generation DU penetrator (estimated penetration 790 mm).

Secondary armament

U. S. Army M1A2 Abrams tanks maneuver in the streets as they conduct a combat patrol in the city of Tall Afar, Iraq, on February 3, 2005. Tal Afar (pronounced /ta/ /la/ /fer/ (also Tal'Afar, Tal Afar, Tall Afar, Tell Afar, Tel Events 1112 - Ramon Berenguer III of Barcelona and Douce I of Provence marry uniting the fortunes of those two states Year 2005 ( MMV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Note the TAGS shield installed on the loader's M240 machine gun. Built by BAE Systems, the Transparent Armor Gun shield, or TAGS is a visibly transparent protective Gun shield for operators of vehicle-mounted Machine

The Abrams tank has three machine guns:

1. A . For other uses of the phrase see Machine Gun (disambiguation. 50 cal. (12.7 mm) M2 machine gun in front of the commander's hatch. The term caliber or calibre designates the interior Diameter of a tube or the exterior diameter of a wire or rod This article is about the.50 caliber M2 machine gun For the.30-06 M2 machine gun see M1919 Browning machine gun. On the M1, M1IP and M1A1, this gun is on a powered mount and can be fired using a 3× magnification sight, known as the Commander's Weapon Station (CWS for short), while the vehicle is buttoned up. On the M1A2 & M1A2SEP, this gun is on a flex mount (seen at right), the Commander having to expose himself to fire the weapon manually. With the forthcoming TUSK addon kit, an M2 or an Mk 19 grenade launcher can be mounted on the CROWS remote weapons platform (similar to the Protector M151 remote weapon station used on the Stryker family of vehicles). The Mk 19 Grenade Launcher is a belt-fed automatic 40 mm Grenade launcher or grenade machine gun that entered U The Common Remotely Operated Weapon System program ( CROWS or CROWS II) is a remote-control weapon system that provides the operator with theability to The PROTECTOR M151 Remote Weapon Station is a remotely-controlled weapons station (RWS that can be mounted to vehicles and stationary platforms
2. A 7.62 mm M240 machine gun in front of the loader's hatch on a skate mount. The 762x51mm NATO is a Rifle cartridge developed in the 1950s as a standard firearm cartridge among NATO countries Some of these have been fitted with gun shields during the ongoing conflict in Iraq as seen in the image at right, as well as night-vision scopes for low-visibility engagements. A gun shield is a device designed to be mounted on a Crew-served weapon such as a Machine gun or Artillery piece sometimes improvised in the field in an
3. A second 7. 62 mm M240 machine gun in a coaxial mount. A coaxial weapon is a weapon system that is mounted side-by-side with the main weapon system usually on a Tank. The coaxial MG is aimed and fired with the same computer fire control system used for the main gun.

The turret is fitted with two six-barreled smoke grenade launchers (USMC M1A1's use an eight-barreled version). See also Hand grenade Smoke grenades are canister-type Grenades used as ground-to-ground or ground-to-air signaling devices target or landing zone marking devices These can create a thick smoke that blocks both vision and thermal imaging, and can also be armed with chaff. wiki stranglesnakejpg|thumb|Thermographic image of a Snake held by a human]] Infrared Thermography, thermal imaging, or thermal video, is a type of Chaff, originally called Window by the British, and Düppel by the World War II era German Luftwaffe, is a The engine is also equipped with a smoke generator that is triggered by the driver. The Abrams also has provisions for storing an M16 rifle or M4 carbine inside the turret in case the crew is required to leave the tank under potentially hostile conditions; while the crewmen are supplied with the M9 Beretta pistol as a personal sidearm. M16 (more formally United States Rifle II Caliber 556 mm M16) is the U The M9 handgun formally Pistol Semiautomatic 9mm M9, is a 9x19mm Parabellum pistol of the U

Aiming

Soldiers from the 3rd Infantry Division conduct a counter improvised explosive device mission in Baghdad, Dec. The 3rd Infantry Division &mdashnicknamed the Rock of the Marne &mdash is a United States Army infantry division based at Fort Stewart, 22, 2007.

The Abrams is equipped with a ballistic fire-control computer that uses data from a variety of sources, including the thermal or daylight Gunner's Primary Sight (GPS), all computing and displaying one of three components of the ballistic solution - lead angle, ammunition type, and range to the target. Note the term " fire control " may also refer to means of stopping a fire such as sprinkler systems A fire-control system These three components are determined using a laser rangefinder, crosswind sensor, a pendulum static cant sensor, data on the ammunition type, tank-specific boresight alignment data, ammunition temperature, air temperature, barometric pressure, a muzzle reference sensor (MRS) that determines and compensates for barrel droop at the muzzle due to gravitational pull and barrel heating due to firing or sunlight, and target speed determined by tracking rate tachometers in the Gunner's or Commander's Controls Handles allowing for target speed input into the ballistic solution. A pendulum is a mass that is attached to a pivot from which it can swing freely

The fire-control system uses this data to compute a firing solution for the gunner. Note the term " fire control " may also refer to means of stopping a fire such as sprinkler systems A fire-control system The ballistic solution generated ensures a hit percentage greater than 95 percent at nominal ranges. Either the commander or gunner can fire the main gun. Additionally, the Commander's Independent Thermal Viewer (CITV) on the M1A2 can be used to locate targets and pass them on for the gunner to engage while the commander scans for new targets. In the event of a malfunction or damage to the primary sight system, the main and coaxial weapons can be manually aimed using a telescopic scope boresighted to the main gun known as the Gunner's Auxiliary Sight (GAS). Boresight is the Optical axis of a directional antenna. Boresight is also a term used to describe crude adjustments made to an optical firearm The GAS has two interchangeable reticles; one for HEAT and MPAT (MultiPurpose AntiTank) rounds and one for APFSDS and STAFF (Smart Target-Activated Fire and Forget) ammunition. A crosshair or reticle is a shape superimposed on an image that is used for precise alignment of a device most notably that of a Scope rifle. Turret traverse and main gun elevation can be accomplished with manual handles and cranks in the event of a Fire Control System or Hydraulic System failure. The commander's M2 . 50 caliber machine gun on the M1 and M1A1 is aimed by a 3x magnification sight incorporated into the Commander's Weapon Station (CWS), while the M1A2 uses either the machine gun's own iron sights, or a remote aiming system such as the CROWS system when used as part of the TUSK kit. The term iron sights refers to the open unmagnified system used to assist the aiming of a variety of devices usually those intended to launch Projectiles such as Firearms The loader's M240 machine gun is aimed either with the built-in iron sights or with a thermal scope mounted on the machine gun.

Mobility

A U. S. Army M1A1 Abrams is marshaled away from a US Air Force C-17, after being offloaded at Balad Air Base, Iraq, during Operation Iraqi Freedom. WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout The Iraq War, also known as the Second Gulf War, the Occupation of Iraq, or the War in Iraq, is an ongoing Military campaign

Driving controls

The M1 Abrams is powered by a 1500 hp (1119 kW) Honeywell AGT1500 (originally made by Lycoming) gas turbine, and a six speed (four forward, two reverse) Allison X-1100-3B Hydro-Kinetic Automatic transmission, giving it a governed top speed of 45 mph (72 km/h) on paved roads, and 30 mph (48 km/h) cross-country. Honeywell ( is a major American multinational conglomerate company that produces a variety of consumer products engineering services and aerospace systems The AGT-1500 turbine engine is the main powerplant of the M1 Abrams series of tanks. Lycoming Engines' is an American Aircraft engine company known primarily for its General aviation Engines For most of its history Lycoming has been Allison Transmission is a manufacturer of Automatic transmissions for medium and heavy-duty commercial vehicle applications An automatic transmission (commonly "AT" or "Auto" is an Automobile Gearbox that can change Gear ratios automatically as the vehicle (For the South African airport with IATA code "KMH" see Johan Pienaar Airport. With the engine governor removed, speeds of around 60 mph (100 km/h) are possible on an improved surface; however, damage to the drive train (especially to the tracks) and an increased risk of injuries to the crew can occur at speeds above 45 mph (72 km/h). The tank can be fueled with diesel fuel, kerosene, any grade of motor gasoline, JP-4 jet fuel, or JP-8 jet fuel; the US Army uses JP-8 jet fuel in order to simplify logistics. Diesel or Diesel fuel (ˈdiːzəl in general is any Fuel used in Diesel engines The most common is a specific fractional distillate of petroleum Kerosene, sometimes spelled kerosine in scientific and industrial usage is a Combustible Hydrocarbon liquid JP-4, or JP4 (for "Jet Propellant" was a Jet fuel, specified in 1951 by the U JP-8, or JP8 (for "Jet Propellant" is a Jet fuel, specified in 1990 by the U The United States Army is a military organization whose primary mission is to "provide necessary forces and capabilities. Logistics is the management of the flow of Goods, Information and other resources including Energy and people between the point of origin and the point The Royal Australian Armoured Corps' M1A1 AIM SA uses diesel fuel; it is cheaper and makes practical sense for Australian military logistics.

The gas turbine propulsion system has proven quite reliable in practice and combat, but its high fuel consumption is a serious logistic issue (starting up the turbine alone consumes nearly 11 gallons of fuel). The high speed, high temperature jet blast emitted from the rear of M1 Abrams tanks makes it difficult for the infantry to proceed shadowing the tank in urban combat. Jet blast is the phenomenon of rapid air movement produced by the jet Engines of Aircraft, particularly on or before takeoff The Infantry is the oldest and most numerous of the Combat Arms in the Armed forces, and consists Urban warfare is modern warfare conducted in Urban areas such as Towns and cities. The turbine is very quiet when compared to diesel engines of similar power output and produces a significantly different sound from a contemporary diesel tank engine, reducing the audible distance of the sound, thus earning the Abrams the nickname, "whispering death" during its first REFORGER exercise. Future US tanks may return to reciprocating engines for propulsion, as 4-stroke diesel engines have proven quite successful in other modern heavy tanks, e. A diesel engine is an Internal combustion engine which operates using the Diesel cycle (named after Dr g. the Leopard 2, Challenger 2 and Merkava. FV4034 Challenger 2 is a Main battle tank (MBT currently in service with the armies of the United Kingdom and Oman. The Merkava ( Hebrew:, Chariot) is the Main battle tank of the Israel Defense Forces. The small size, simplicity, power-to-weight ratio, and easy removal/replacement of the turbine powerpack does, however, present significant advantages over any proposed reciprocating replacement.

The Abrams can be carried by a C-5 Galaxy or a C-17 Globemaster III. WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout The limited capacity (two combat-ready in a C-5, one combat-ready tank in a C-17) caused serious logistical problems when deploying the tanks for the First Gulf War, though there was enough time for 1,848 tanks to be transported by ship.

Combat history

In World War II, it took a Sherman Tank an average of 17 rounds to destroy an enemy tank 700 meters away. World War II foreign variants and use Lend-Lease Sherman tanks. The Abrams, by contrast, is sometimes able to destroy certain types of enemy tanks by firing, on the move, a single round from 2,000 meters away. ^[4] (It should be noted that this comparison is is not scientific however as it was certainly possible for a single shot by a Sherman to destroy "certain types" of enemy tanks at ranges in excess of 700 meters. (The 17 rounds at 700 meters is merely an average not a definite statement of capability. ) Moreover, while Abrams may be capable of destroying "certain" tanks with a single shot at 2,000 meters, this is certainly NOT an average. As the Abrams entered service in the 1980s, they would operate alongside M60A3 within the United States military, and with other NATO tanks in numerous Cold War exercises. The M60 Patton was the fourth and last of the Patton series medium tanks of the U These exercises usually took place in Western Europe, especially West Germany, but also in some other countries like South Korea. During such training, Abrams crews honed their skills for use against the men and equipment of the Soviet Union. However, by 1991 the USSR had collapsed and the Abrams would have its trial by fire in the Middle East.

Operation Desert Storm

Abrams main battle tanks of the 3rd Armored Division move out on a mission during Operation Desert Storm. The 3rd Armored Division &mdashnicknamed the Spearhead Division &mdash and sometimes colloquially referred to within the U A Bradley IFV and logistics convoy can be seen in the background. The M2 Bradley IFV (Infantry Fighting Vehicle and M3 Bradley CFV (Cavalry Fighting Vehicle are American Infantry fighting vehicles manufactured by

The Abrams remained untested in combat until the Gulf War in 1991. A total of 1,848 M1A1s were deployed to Saudi Arabia. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, KSA ( المملكة العربية السعودية, al-Mamlaka al-ʻArabiyya as-Suʻūdiyya) or Suudi The M1A1 was superior to Iraq's Soviet-era T-55 and T-62 tanks, as well as Iraqi assembled Russian T-72s, and locally-produced copies (Asad Babil tank). For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Iraq topics. The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR was a constitutionally Socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991 The T-54 and T-55 tank were a series of Main battle tanks designed by the Soviet Union. The T-62 Soviet Main battle tank is a further development of the T-55. The Lion of Babylon tank or Asad Babil ( Arabic: اسد بابل was an Iraqi built version of the Soviet T-72 MBT ( Main battle tank The T-72s like most Soviet export designs lacked night vision systems and then-modern range finders, though they did have some night fighting tanks with older active infrared systems or floodlights — just not the latest starlight scopes and passive infrared scopes as on the Abrams. A night vision device (NVD is an Optical instrument that allows images to be produced in levels of light approaching total darkness A rangefinder is a device that measures distance from the observer to a target for the purposes of Surveying, determining focus in Photography, or Only 23 M1A1s were taken out of service in the Gulf^[5] and none of these losses resulted in crew deaths from Iraqi fire. Some others took minor combat damage, with little effect on their operational readiness. There were only 3 tank crew members wounded beyond doubt by enemy action.

The M1A1 was capable of making kills at ranges in excess of 2500 m. The metre or meter is a unit of Length. It is the basic unit of Length in the Metric system and in the International This range was crucial in combat against tanks of Soviet design in Desert Storm, as the effective range of the main gun in the Soviet/Iraqi tanks was less than 2000 meters (Iraqi tanks could not fire Anti-Tank missiles like their Russian counterparts). This meant Abrams tanks could hit Iraqi tanks before the enemy got in range - a decisive advantage in this kind of combat. In friendly fire incidents, the front armor and fore side turret armor survived direct APFSDS hits from other M1A1s. Friendly fire or non-hostile fire, a term originally adopted by the United States military, refers to fire from one's own side or allied forces as A gun turret is a device that protects the crew or mechanism of a projectile firing weapon and at the same time lets the weapon be aimed and fired in many directions A kinetic energy penetrator (also known as a KE weapon) is a type of Ammunition which like a Bullet, does not contain Explosives and uses This was not the case for the side armor of the hull and the rear armor of the turret, as both areas were penetrated at least in two occasions by friendly DU ammunition during the Battle of Norfolk. Depleted uranium (DU is Uranium primarily composed of the Isotope Uranium-238 (U-238 The Battle of Norfolk was a tank battle fought on 27 February 1991, during the Gulf War, between armored forces of the United States Army ^[6]

Nearly all sources claim that no Abrams tank has ever been destroyed as a result of fire from an enemy tank, but some have certainly taken some damage which required extensive repair. There is at least one account, reported in the following Gulf War's US Official Assessment (scan), of an Abrams being damaged by three kinetic energy piercing rounds. A kinetic energy penetrator (also known as a KE weapon) is a type of Ammunition which like a Bullet, does not contain Explosives and uses The DoD report indicates that witnesses in the field claimed it was hit by a T-72 Asad Babil. The KE rounds were unable to fully penetrate and stuck in the armor, but because of the external damage it was sent to a maintenance depot. This is the only verified case of an M1A1 put out of action by an Iraqi MBT. ^[7]

Presumably the impacts set the storage boxes on fire. The tests at the impact point indicate the sabot shells were conventional, since no radiological trace was found there. A sabot (ˈseɪboʊ "saybow" or /ˈsæboʊ/ "sabbow" is a device used in a Firearm or Cannon to fire a Projectile, such as a

Six other M1A1s were allegedly hit by 125 mm tank fire in the Gulf war official report, but the impacts were largely ineffectual. ^[8]

M1A1 lost to friendly fire during Operation Desert Storm in 1991.

On the night of February 26, 1991, four Abrams were disabled in a suspected friendly fire incident by Hellfire missiles fired from AH-64 Apache attack helicopters, with the result of some crew members wounded in action. Events 747 BC - Epoch (origin of Ptolemy 's Nabonassar Era 364 - Valentinian I is proclaimed Year 1991 ( MCMXCI) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar. The AGM-114 Hellfire is a multi-platform multi-target United States modular Missile system WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout An attack helicopter, also known as a Helicopter Gunship, is a Military helicopter armed for attacking targets on the ground WIA is a Three letter abbreviation standing for Wounded In Action. ^[9] The tanks were part of TF 1-37,^[10] attacking a large section of Tawakalna Republican Guard Division, their numbers being B-23, C-12, D-24 and C-66. The 37th Armor is an armor (tank regiment of the United States Army. The Iraqi Republican Guard ( Arabic: الحرس العراقي الجمهوري/al-Haris Al-Jamhuri was a branch of the Iraqi military. However, C-12 was definitively hit and penetrated by a friendly DU shot^[11] and there is some evidence that another Iraqi T-72 may have scored a single hit on B-23, besides the alleged Hellfire strike (see Iraqi T-72 article). The Lion of Babylon tank or Asad Babil ( Arabic: اسد بابل was an Iraqi built version of the Soviet T-72 MBT ( Main battle tank

Tanks D-24 and C-66 took some casualties as well^[12] Only B-23 became a permanent loss. The DoD's damage assessments state that B-23 was the only M1 with signs of a Hellfire missile found nearby. ^[13]

Also during Operation Desert Storm, three Abrams of the 24 ID were left behind the enemy lines after a swift attack on Talil airfield, south of Nasiriyah, on February 27. The 24th Infantry Division, nicknamed the Victory Division, is an inactive Infantry division of the United States Army. Ali Base is a Military Airbase located near Nasiriyah, Iraq. It was formerly known as Tallil Air Base. Nasiriyah ( BGN: an-Nāṣiriyyah; also spelled Nassiriya or Nasiriya) is a city in Iraq Events 1560 - The Treaty of Berwick, which would expel the French from Scotland, is signed by England and the Congregation One of them was hit by enemy fire, the two other embedded in mud. The tanks were destroyed by US forces in order to prevent any trophy-claim by the Iraqi Army. ^[14]

List of Abrams disabled or damaged in Desert Storm

The Iraq war

M1A1 Abrams from A Company, Task Force 1st Battalion, 35th Armor Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division, pose for a photo under the "Hands of Victory" in Ceremony Square, Baghdad, Iraq. Baghdad (بغداد) is the Capital of Iraq and of Baghdad Governorate, with which it is also coterminous

Further combat was seen during 2003 when US forces invaded Iraq and deposed the Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein. The Iraq War, also known as the Second Gulf War, the Occupation of Iraq, or the War in Iraq, is an ongoing Military campaign Saddam Hussein Abd al-Majid al-Tikriti ( Arabic: ar صدام حسين عبد المجيد التكريتي --> April 28 1937 &ndash December 30 The campaign saw very similar performance from the tank with no Abrams crew member being lost to hostile fire during the battle in Iraq, mainly due to unopposed air-support. However, several tanks were destroyed due to secondary effects from enemy weapons. Abandoned Abrams were destroyed by friendly fire to prevent recovery of vehicle or technology. Damages by 25 mm AP-DU, anti-armor RPG fire and 12.7 mm rounds was encountered. Depleted uranium (DU is Uranium primarily composed of the Isotope Uranium-238 (U-238 But on no occasion anti-tank guided weapons or anti-tank mines struck the US MBTs. An anti-tank guided missile ( ATGM) or anti-tank guided weapon ( ATGW) is a guided Missile primarily designed to hit and destroy An anti-tank mine, (abbreviated to "AT mine" is a type of Land mine designed to damage or destroy vehicles including Tanks and Armoured fighting ^[27]

The most lopsided achievement of the M1A2s was the destruction of seven T-72 Lion of Babylon tanks in a point-blank skirmish (less than 50 yards) near Mahmoudiyah, about 18 miles (29 km) south of Baghdad, with no losses for the American side. ^[28] However, on October 29, 2003, two soldiers were killed and a third wounded when their tank was disabled by an anti-tank mine, which was combined with other explosives (500 kg, including several 155 mm rounds) to increase its effect. Events 437 - Valentinian III, Western Roman Emperor, marries Licinia Eudoxia, daughter of his cousin Theodosius II Year 2003 ( MMIII) was a Common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. A land mine is an Explosive device designed to be placed on or in the ground to explode when triggered by an operator or the Proximity of a vehicle person The massive explosion beneath the tank knocked off the turret. This marked the first time deaths resulted from a hostile-fire assault on the M1 tank from enemy forces. Following lessons learned in Desert Storm, the Abrams and many other US combat vehicles used in the conflict were fitted with Combat Identification Panels to reduce friendly fire incidents. The Combat Identification Panel, also known as the 'Coalition Identification Panel' or simply 'CIP' is a device mounted on military ground vehicles to distinguish them from the enemy during These were fitted on the sides and rear of the turret, with flat panels equipped with a four-cornered 'box' image on either side of the turret front (the latter of which can be seen in the above image, similar flat panels also being employed on British Challenger 2 tanks serving in the conflict). FV4034 Challenger 2 is a Main battle tank (MBT currently in service with the armies of the United Kingdom and Oman. In addition to the Abrams' already-formidable armament, some crews were also issued M136 AT4 shoulder-fired anti-tank rockets under the assumption that they might have to engage heavy armor in tight urban areas where the main gun couldn't be brought to bear. The AT4 (or AT-4 an alpha-phonetic word play on the weapon's Caliber of 84 mm is a portable one-shot Anti-tank Weapon built in Sweden Some Abrams were also fitted with a secondary storage bin on the back of the existing bustle rack on the rear of the turret referred to as a bustle rack extension to enable the crew to carry more supplies and personal belongings. A bustle rack is a type of storage bin mounted on Armored fighting vehicles usually on the sides and/or rear of the turret

During the major combat operations in Iraq, Abrams crew members were lost when one tank of the US Army's 3rd Infantry Division, and US Marine Corps troops, drove onto a bridge. The 3rd Infantry Division &mdashnicknamed the Rock of the Marne &mdash is a United States Army infantry division based at Fort Stewart, The bridge collapsed, dropping the tank into the Euphrates River, where four Marines drowned. The Euphrates ( ( Arabic: ar نهر الفرات; Turkish: tr Fırat Syriac: syr ܦܪܬ; Hebrew: he פרת

A destroyed USMC M1A1 Abrams rests in front of a Fedayeen camp just outside of Jaman Al Juburi, Iraq on April 6, 2003. Fedayeen (فدائيون fidā'ī, plural fidā'iyūn: meaning " Freedom fighter (s" or "self-sacrificer(s"Ֆէտայի is a term Events 46 BC - Julius Caesar defeats Caecilius Metellus Scipio and Marcus Porcius Cato in the Battle of Thapsus Year 2003 ( MMIII) was a Common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar.

During an early attack on Baghdad, one M1A1 was disabled by a recoilless rifle round that had penetrated the rear engine housing, and punctured a hole in the right rear fuel cell, causing fuel to leak onto the hot turbine engine. A recoilless gun or recoilless rifle (RCL is a lightweight form of Weapon that allows the firing of a heavier projectile than would be practical with a recoiling After repeated attempts to extinguish the fire, the decision was made to destroy or remove any sensitive equipment. Oil and . 50 caliber rounds were scattered in the interior, the ammunition doors were opened and several thermite grenades ignited inside. Thermite is a Pyrotechnic composition of Aluminium powder and a metal oxide which produces an Aluminothermic reaction known as a Another M1 then fired a HEAT round in order to ensure the destruction of the disabled tank. The tank was completely disabled but still intact. Later, an AGM-65 Maverick and two AGM-114 Hellfire missiles were fired into the tank to finish its destruction. The AGM-65 Maverick is an air-to-ground tactical missile (AGM designed for close air support The AGM-114 Hellfire is a multi-platform multi-target United States modular Missile system Remarkably, the tank still appeared to be intact from the exterior. ^[29]

M1A1 conducts reconnaissance in Iraq on Sept. 6, 2004.

On November 27, 2004 an Abrams tank was badly damaged from the detonation of an extremely powerful improvised explosive device (IED). Events 1095 - Pope Urban II declares the First Crusade at the Council of Clermont "MMIV" redirects here For the Modest Mouse album see " Baron von Bullshit Rides Again " An improvised explosive device ( IED) is a Bomb constructed and deployed in ways other than in conventional Military action The IED consisted of three M109A6 155 mm shells, with a total explosive weight of 34. 5 kg, that detonated next to the tank. The tank's driver received lethal injuries from shrapnel. Shrapnel is the term originally applied to an anti-personnel artillery shell which carried a large number of individual bullets to the target and then ejected them forwards relying The other three crew members were able to escape.

On December 25, 2005 another M1A2 was disabled by an explosively formed penetrator IED. Events 274 - Roman Emperor Aurelian Year 2005 ( MMV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. An explosively formed penetrator (EFP is a type of Petard also known as an explosively formed projectile, a self-forging warhead, or a self-forging An improvised explosive device ( IED) is a Bomb constructed and deployed in ways other than in conventional Military action The IED penetrated through a road wheel, and hit the fuel tank, which left the tank burning near central Baghdad. One crew member, Spc. Sergio Gudino, died in the attack.

On June 4, 2006 two of the four soldiers in an Abrams crew died in Baghdad, when an IED detonated near their M1A2. Events 781 BC - The first historic Solar eclipse is recorded in China. Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar.

Some Abrams were disabled by Iraqi infantrymen in ambushes employing short-range antitank rockets, such as the Russian RPG-7, during the 2003 invasion. An ambush is a long-established military tactic, in which the aggressors (the ambushing force use Concealment to attack a passing enemy The RPG-7 (РПГ-7 is a widely-produced portable shoulder-launched, Anti-tank Rocket propelled grenade weapon Although the RPG-7 is unable to penetrate the front and sides, the rear and top are vulnerable to this weapon. Frequently the rockets were fired at the tank tracks. Another was put out of action in an incident when fuel stowed in an external rack was struck by heavy machine gun rounds. This started a fire that spread to the engine. [3] [4].

There have also been a number of Abrams crewmen killed by sniper fire during times when they were exposed through the turret hatches of their tanks. Some of these attacks were filmed by insurgents for propaganda purposes and spread via the Internet. One of these videos shows a large IED detonating beneath an Abrams and nearly flipping the vehicle, though the tank landed back on its treads and appeared to have suffered no serious damage as it was still mobile and traversing the turret following the attack.

Variants and upgrades

An M1A1 Abrams tank from 1st Tank Battalion, 1st Marine Division, breaches the obstacle belt with a mine plow during an amphibious assault in 1997. The 1st Tank Battalion is an armored battalion of the United States Marine Corps which is based out of the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center Twentynine Palms The 1st Marine Division is the oldest largest (active duty and most decorated division in the United States Marine Corps representing a combat-ready force A mine plow ( plough in British English) is a Tank -mounted device designed to clear a lane through a minefield allowing other vehicles to follow

Grizzly.

• XM1 Experimental model. Nine test-beds were produced in 1978.
• M1 First production variant. Production began in 1979 and continued to 1985 (3,273 build for US).
  • M1IP (Improvement Production). Produced briefly in 1984 before the M1A1, contained upgrades and reconfigurations.
• M1A1 Production started in 1986 and continued to 1992 (4,976 build for US, 221 for USMC, 755 for Egypt, 59 M1A1 AIM SA sold to Australia).
  • M1A1HC (Heavy Common) added new depleted uranium armor mesh, pressurized NBC system, rear bustle rack for improved stowage of supplies and crew belongings, and M256 120 mm smoothbore cannon.
  • M1A1-D (Digital) A digital upgrade for the M1A1HC, to keep up with M1A2 SEP.
    • M1A1-AIM (Abrams Integrated Management) A program whereby older units are reconditioned to zero hour conditions. [5] 59 M1A1 AIM SA have been sold to Australia.
  • M1A1 KVT (Krasnovian Variant Tank) M1A1's that have been visually modified to resemble Soviet-made tanks for use at the National Training Center, fitted with MILES gear and a Hoffman device. The term vismod is an abbreviation of the term visually modified, and is used by the elements of the United States Department of Defense to refer to any vehicle aircraft Fort Irwin & the National Training Center (NTC is a major Training area for the United States Military. The Multiple Integrated Laser Engagement System or MILES is used by the United States Armed Forces and other armed forces around the world for training purposes The Hoffman Tank Gunfire Simulator is a device attached to a Tank gun.
• M1A2 (Baseline) Production began in 1992 (77 build for US and more than 600 M1s upgraded to M1A2, 315 for Saudi Arabia, 218 for Kuwait).
• M1A2 SEP (System Enhancement Package) Also with upgraded 3rd generation depleted uranium encased armor with graphite coating (240 new build, 300 M1A2s upgraded to M1A2SEP for the USA, 250 for Egypt in 2 Egyptian co-production batches of 125 each).
• M1 Grizzly Engineer Vehicle [6]
• M1 Panther II Remote Controlled Mine Clearing Vehicle[7]
• M104 Wolverine Heavy Assault Bridge[8]
• M1 Panther II Mine Clearing Blade/Roller System. The M104 Wolverine Heavy Assault Bridge is an armored Combat engineering vehicle designed to provide deployable Bridge capability for units engaged in
• M1 Assault Breacher Vehicle.
• M1 Armored Recovery Vehicle. Only a prototype produced.

Specifications of variants

Note: All of the above produce a power of 1500 hp (1119 kW). The Royal Ordnance L7 is the basic model of Britain's most successful Tank gun. The Rheinmetall 120 mm gun is a Smoothbore Tank gun designed and produced by the German

Tank Urban Survival Kit

M1A2 with TUSK

The Tank Urban Survival Kit, or TUSK, is a series of improvements to the M1 Abrams intended to improve fighting ability in urban environments. Historically, urban and other close battlefields have been the worst place for tanks to fight—a tank's front armor is much stronger than that on the sides, top, or rear, and in an urban environment, attacks can come from any direction, and attackers can get close enough to reliably hit weak points in the tank's armor, or get sufficient elevation to hit the top armor square on.

Armor upgrades include reactive armor on the sides of the tank and slat armor (similar to that on the Stryker) on the rear to protect against rocket-propelled grenades and other shaped charge warheads. For body armour see Armour, for armoured forces see Armoured warfare, for other uses see Armour (disambiguation. The Stryker is a family of eight-wheeled all-wheel-drive armored combat vehicles produced by General Dynamics Land Systems, in use by the United States Army RPG or rocket-propelled grenade, is a loose term describing hand-held shoulder-launched Anti-tank weapons capable of firing an unguided

A gun shield and a thermal sight system are added to the loader's top-mounted M240B 7. A gun shield is a device designed to be mounted on a Crew-served weapon such as a Machine gun or Artillery piece sometimes improvised in the field in an 62 mm machine gun, and a Kongsberg Gruppen Remote Weapon Turret carrying a . Kongsberg Gruppen ( (lit "The Kongsberg Group" is Norway 's major defence contractor and maritime automation supplier located in and named after former mining 50 caliber machine gun (again similar to that used on the Stryker) is in place of the tank commander's original . 50 caliber machine gun mount, wherein the commander had to expose himself to fire the weapon manually. An exterior telephone allows supporting infantry to communicate with the tank commander. Basic principle A traditional landline telephone system also known as "plain old telephone service" (POTS, commonly handles both signaling and audio information

The TUSK system is a field-installable kit that allows tanks to be upgraded without needing to be recalled to a maintenance depot.

While the reactive armor may not be needed in most situations in maneuver warfare, items like the rear slat armor, loader's gun shield, infantry phone (which has already seen use on Marine Corps M1A1s as early as 2003), and Kongsberg Remote Weapons Station for the . Maneuver warfare, also spelled manoeuvre warfare, is the term used by military theorists for a concept of Warfare that advocates attempting to 50 caliber machine gun will be added to the entire M1A2 fleet over time.

In addition to this, a Transparent Armor Gun Shield may also be implemented as part of this kit, as it is already seeing use on some Abrams serving in Iraq.

On August 29, 2006 General Dynamics Land Systems received a US Army order for 505 Tank Urban Survivability Kits (TUSK) for Abrams main battle tanks supporting operations in Iraq, under a US$45 million contract. The add-on kit will be provided for M1A1 and M1A2-series tanks to enhance crew survivability in urban environments. The kit ordered by the Army consists of a Loader's Armor Gun Shield (LAGS), a Tank Infantry Phone (TIP), Abrams Reactive Armor Tiles (ARAT), a Remote Thermal Sight (RTS) and a Power Distribution Box (PDB). Deliveries are expected to be complete by April 2009.

Under a separate order, the US Army awarded General Dynamics Armament and Technical Products (GDATP) US$30 million to produce reactive armor kits to equip M-1A2. The total contract value could reach $59 million if all contract options are exercised. The reactive tiles for the M-1 will be locally produced at GDATP's Burlington Technology Center. Tiles will be produced at the company's reactive armor facility in Stone County Operations, McHenry, Miss. On December 8th 2006 the U. S. Army added Counter Improvised Explosive Device enhancements to the M1A1 and M1A2 TUSK, awarding GDLS U. S. $11. 3 million, part of the $59 million package mentioned above. In December GDLS also received an order amounting about 40% of a US$48 million order for loader's thermal weapon sights being part of the TUSK system improvements for the M1A1 and M1A2 Abrams Tanks.

M1 Abrams camouflage

A group of M1A1s enter the Twin Bridges training area prepared for a mock battle in the Republic of Korea during Foal Eagle '98. South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea and often referred to as Korea ( Korean: 대한민국 tɛː These M1A1s can be seen with their factory single green paint scheme.

Unlike older US military vehicles from World War II through Vietnam, which used a scheme of dark brownish OD with large white stars, prototypes and early production M1 (105mm gun) & M-1IP models used the flat medium green paint known as "olive drab. The Vietnam War, also known as the Second Indochina War, or the Vietnam Conflict, occurred in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia " Some units painted their M1s with the older MERDC paint scheme but the turn-in requirements for these tanks required repainting them to solid green. Therefore, even though a large number of the base model M1s were camouflaged in the field, few or none exist today.

M1A1s (120mm gun) came from the factory with the NATO 3 color camouflage Black/Med-Green/Dark-Brown CARC paint jobs. Today M1A1s are given the NATO three color paint job during rebuilds. M1s and M1A1s in Desert Storm were hastily painted desert tan for the 1991 Gulf war. Some, but not all, of these tanks were re-painted to their "authorized" paint scheme. M1A2s built for Middle East countries were painted in desert tan.

Some M1 series tanks are being painted desert tan for service in Iraq and some are not. Replacement parts (roadwheels, armor skirt panels, drive sprockets, etc. ) are painted overall green, which can sometimes lead to vehicles with a patchwork of green and desert tan parts.

Operators

•  Australia - 59 M1A1 AIM SA tanks were bought from the United States in 2006, to replace the Leopard AS1 in 2007. For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Australia topics. The Leopard (or Leopard 1) is a German designed and produced main battle tank that first entered service in 1965 and was used as the main battle tank ^[30]
•  Egypt - 1005 (755 M1A1 to be brought to M1A2 SEP standard + 250 M1A2 SEP) M1A1^[31]
•  Kuwait - 218 M1A2^[32]
•  Saudi Arabia - 315 M1A2 - 73 M1A1 - 388 Total^[33]
•  United States - About 14,000 built
  • 1174 M1A2 (Army inventory)^[34]
  • 4393 M1A1 (Army inventory)^[35]
  • 403 M1A1 (USMC inventory)^[36]
  • Remaining number of M1 (Army, M1 in service according to the US Army Factfile but probably only used by National Guard). This article is about the country of Egypt For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Egypt topics. The State of Kuwait ( دولة الكويت IPA [dawlatt̪ alkuwajt̪]) is a sovereign Arab Emirate on the coast of the Persian Gulf, enclosed The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, KSA ( المملكة العربية السعودية, al-Mamlaka al-ʻArabiyya as-Suʻūdiyya) or Suudi The United States of America —commonly referred to as the

See also

• List of "M" series military vehicles
• List of armored fighting vehicles
• M1 Tank Platoon (computer simulation)

Notes

References

• King of the Killing Zone by Orr Kelly, 1989. W. W. Norton Company.
• Rostker, Bernard: Environmental Exposure Report:Depleted Uranium in the Gulf. DoD Publication, 1998. [9].
• United States General Accounting Office:Operation Desert Storm: Early Performance Assessment of Bradley and Abrams. Washington, January 1992. PDF.
• Halberstadt, Hans. Desert Storm Ground War. Osceola, WI, Motorbooks International, 1991. 128 pp.
• Forty, George: Tank Action. From the Great War to the Gulf, Allan Sutton Publishing Ltd. , Phoenix Mill 1995.
• Zaloga Steven J. , & Sarson, Peter: M1 Abrams Main Battle Tank 1982-1992. Osprey Military, New Vanguard. Reed International Books Ltd, 1993.
• M1 Abrams Main Battle Tank. FAS Military Analysis Network. Retrieved on January 17, 2004.
• TUSK to update Abrams for urban battle. Army News Service. Retrieved on April 6, 2005.
• Army Times - Two soldiers die in attack on Abrams tank, October 29, 2003
• DoD News: DoD Identifies Army Casualty - Dec 25, 2005 attack
• DoD News: DoD Identifies Army Casualties - June 04, 2006 incident

External links

• Abrams U.S. Army Fact File
• Official Abrams page on General Dynamics Land Systems site
• M1A1/M1A2 Abrams Main Battle Tank on Army-Technology.com
• M1A1/2 Abrams page on the Armor Site
• Main Battle Tank M1A1 Abrams on Enemyforces.com
• Anatomy of an M1 Abrams on military.discovery.com
• M1 Abrams page, with a detailed overview of how the tank works on howstuffworks.com
• M-1 Tank Urban Survivability Kit (TUSK), M1A1 AIM Upgrade, and M1A2 SEP Upgrade on Defense-Update.com
• M1 Abrams Main Battle Tank page on GlobalSecurity.com
• AGT1500 Tubine Technology on Honeywell.com