MBT or Main Battle Tank is the core of any Army’s armored force.
They have played their part starting from World War I and are expected to have a significant
role in the foreseeable future.
U.S Army’s main battle tank - M1A2 Abrams will receive notable upgrades in its latest
variant named M1A2C.
M1A2C was initially known as the M1A2 SEPv3.
On 16 December 2015, the US Army awarded General Dynamics a $92.2 million contract to upgrade
M1A2 SEP V2 Abrams tanks to the M1A2 SEP V3.
Abrams has seen many upgrades and this will most possibly the last or penultimate one
until a replacement is deployed which is expected towards the end of next decade.
The upgrade is aimed at keeping the tank one step ahead of the emerging threats and will
enable it to serve through 2020s.
Production for the M1A2 SEPv3 is being conducted at JSMC in Lima, Ohio and at the Anniston
Army Depot in Anniston, Alabama.
The U.S Army accepted the first of about 6 initial production versions of the M1A2 SEPv3
Abrams back in October 2017.
U.S. Army Lieutenant Colonel Justin Shell, then the Abrams Product Manager, had said
at the rollout,
“This version is the most modernized configuration of the Abrams tank, having improved force
protection and system survivability enhancements and increased lethality over the M1A1 and
previous M1A2 variants.
The Abrams M1A2 SEPv3 tank will be the foundation for future incremental system upgrades and
can host any mature technology the Army deems operationally relevant.”
The first of these upgraded tanks is set to enter the service this year itself.
Hank Kennedy, a manager at General Dynamics’ tank plant in Lima Ohio, told Lima News.“We’re
in the throes of getting that together,” M.r Kennedy added, "The first brigade is critical
because we need to get [them] into the soldiers’ hands so they can get trained on it and everything
else”
In this vide Defense Updates analyzes the latest Abram M1A2C variant.
Let’s get started.
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Abram was first introduced in 1980 to replace the M60 main battle tank which was introduced
in 1960.
It was significantly more potent than the M60 and featured many top of the line components
like a fire control system that allowed up to 90% accuracy at ranges of 2,000 meters.
The tank was technologically well ahead of most other tanks of its era.
U.S military has kept on upgrading the tank to maintain its edge.
For example in 1986, the tank received a more powerful 120 mm German-engineered main gun
and in 1988 it got a layer of depleted uranium armor to increase protection.
These upgrades were provided to Abrams so that it could dominate the Soviet tanks and
repeal any armored thrust.
This helped Abrams tanks roll over enemy tanks in Afghanistan and Iraq.
With the end of the Cold War, the chance of a large scale tank fight in open battlefield
diminished.
But new challenges emerged.
This mainly was guerrillas warfare and operating in constrained city spaces.
For this, a remote-controlled .50 caliber machine gun and explosive reactive armor were
added apart from the inclusion of a telephone for the tank crew to communicate with nearby
infantry forces.
After the dwindling down of hostilities and slow reduction of U.S involvement in Afghanistan
and Iraq, a new challenge has appeared.
This is the more assertive Russia with which U.S & NATO relation has steadily declined.
Russia forces have basically annexed Crimea and have intervened in eastern Ukraine.
So, in coming days a full-scale armored conflict can’t be ruled out similar to the proposition
during the Cold War era.
Hence, the Abrams M1A2C upgrade is focused to meet the changing dynamics of the situation.
As relations with Russia deteriorate, the Abrams is once again America’s most important
weapon in a ground conflict in Europe.
Abrams was designed so that it could accommodate new enhancements.
This kind of forward thinking has enabled it to absorb new technologies.
The Abrams tank M1A2C has added several features.
Here is a brief overview:
1. It now includes an Ammunition DataLink.
With this, the tank crew can set a distance at which a shell will explode.
So, if a building is targeted then the shell will explode inside the building instead of
exploding after it has flown through it.
This will enhance the precision of the hit - destruction will be inflicted at the correct
place and limit unintended damage
2. M1A2C will see the addition of better-infrared sights.
Infrared sights basically enhance the night fighting ability and with this improvement
the new variant will be better equipped for twilight missions.
3. The remotely-operated .50 caliber machine gun will now be positioned in a comparatively
lower height enabling better targeting position.
4. M1A2C will have an auxiliary power unit (APU).
This will allow the tank to keep running communications and sensors and maintain battlefield awareness
without having to use its powerful 1,500 horsepower gas turbine engine.
The engine is known to uses a lot of fuel and is also a target for infrared homing weapons.
5. It also adds passive armor which will improve the tanks ability to survive when hit with
latest anti-tank weapons.
6. New explosive reactive armor (ERA) packages, known as the Abrams Reactive Armor Tile (ARAT)
will be deployed.
ERA basically works by placing “tiles” that have explosives.
These tiles are fitted on specific portions of a tank.
When an incoming projectile hits them, they explode outward.
This basically means that explosive power of the projectile is deflected and this prevents
it from penetrating inside the vehicle.
7. A better gun which will have a longer barrel variant of the tanks existing 120mm or a larger
caliber will be present.
But the exact specifications are not disclosed.
8. The most important upgrade will certainly be the addition of the Trophy Active Protection
System (APS).
Israeli-made Trophy will be fitted on the side of M1A2C.
Active or 'hard kill’ protection systems consist of sensors that are capable of detecting
and tracking incoming anti-tank projectiles.
After that, the targeted tank launches an interceptor projectile to shoot the incoming
round.
This is different from 'soft kill’ approach which involves jamming the projectile’s
guidance or confusing them.
It is to be noted that U.S Army has been experimenting with Trophy on the Abrams for some years now.
In 2017, Colonel Glenn Dean a project manager at the Army’s Redstone Arsenal had told
Military.com that he “tried to kill the Abrams tank 48 times and failed.”
The trophy weighs around 1,807 pounds.
Viewers may note that in 2018 the Army announced plans to purchase 261 Trophy sets.
Russia’s latest T-14 tank also has ‘Hard kill’ defense called the Afganit.
Abrams tank currently ranks among the top 3 tanks in the world.
The upgrades will keep it that way for the next decade too.
The most likely rival of Abrams will be Russian T-72 and T-90 series tanks.
Though potent, a reasonably new Abrams tank is more than capable of dealing with these
tanks.
Russia’s next generation T-14 Armata tank, unveiled in 2015 will be a major challenge
even the most latest variant of Abrams.
But the production of these is way behind schedule due to technical challenges as well
as a financial headwind.
Russia has initially stated that it will acquire 2,300 T-14s by 2020, but it currently has
only 20 of these and it is unlikely that it will be able to deploy them in said number
even by 2030.
In this situation, the upgraded program makes sense as it is relatively risk-free undertaking
and cost effective too.
The U.S Army expected to send the M1A2C-equipped brigade to Europe as it is the most probable
flashpoint.
This will surely have deterrence effect and Russian Ground Forces will think twice before
trying to take on American backed armored units.