With a service record spanning four decades, the Abrams has become one of the most well-known tanks
in the entire world. Its creation revolutionized American tank design and has gone on to have
a massively successful career with nearly none being destroyed in combat. If you like this tank
you've probably watched numerous videos and documentaries discussing the many stories that
have come from these years of service. However, in the following video I'm going to pop the hood
on this symbol of American democracy and take a look at the design process that
molded it into what it is today. With the help of my sponsor armored warfare I'm pleased to present
you the first episode of forged for battle. Over a century ago the first tanks entered
combat in the battle of the Somme since then hundreds of designs have seen use in every
conflict from small local battles to the largest wars some of these are destined for failure
cursed by their own design those that succeed went on to shape warfare in ways
no one could have imagined prepare to dive into the complex stories
of tank development as we peel back the pages of history on some of the world's most
iconic designs through ingenuity sweat and blood these machines have been forged for battle
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giving me access to many of the models I’ll be using in this video. Now let's talk Abrams.
American armor prior to the Abrams can largely be traced back to designs first appearing in the
second world war. Even tanks like the M60 can be traced back directly to the Pershing with
the designs being strikingly similar despite being decades apart. This would not be the case for the
Abrams though. Breaking off almost completely from prior designs the earliest seeds of this
tank would be planted in the 60s with programs like the MBT-70 and XM803. Massive costs and
the split up of the joint partnership with the Germans who had also been working on the project
would see it cancelled by the end of 1971. Following this setback was the formation
of the MBT task force at Fort Knox headed by Major General William Desobry in February 1972.
This would begin an entirely new program with a new emphasis on keeping costs lower. A set of
requirements were issued with the importance of them in this order: crew survivability,
surveillance and target acquisition, minimal time to get a round on target, cross country mobility,
complementary armament integration, equipment survivability, crew conditions, silhouette,
acceleration and deceleration, ammunition stowage, ergonomics, producibility, range speed,
diagnostic maintenance aids, upgradability, support equipment, and transportability.
This project was given the initial designation of XM815 and contracts
with General Motors and Chrysler were created. For its main armament there were initially 3
guns considered; the M68 105mm, a British 110mm rifled gun, and the Rheinmetall 120mm smoothbore.
Out of these the 105 would be chosen due to new APFSDS ammunition which increased its
armor penetration while still allowing it to use the same ammo as existing US tanks.
The army was also considering a smaller version of the 152mm Shillelagh missile for the 105.
Not only that but concerns over the development time of the German gun as
well as lackluster performance by the rifled cannon made the 105 the obvious choice.
An additional armament that was considered was the use of a 25mm Bushmaster cannon as a coax.
This would have helped conserve ammunition for the main gun were the tank to encounter a lightly
armored target that couldn't be dealt with using a .50cal, although this would later be discarded. In
order to decrease the risk of fire caused by the ammunition it was proposed that the ammo could
be stored in a compartment in the turret rear to hopefully contain the fire if it were to be hit.
In July of 1973 another component would be added to the program. Upon visiting
a facility in Britain the U.S Army would be introduced to a new type of composite armor.
Previously they had experimented with glass or ceramic composites inside of steel armor
but quickly realized this new type would be beneficial. This would jumpstart a new program at
the Ballistics Research Laboratory at Aberdeen to develop improved composite armor for the project.
A few months later conflict would stir in the Middle East with the Yom Kippur war which would
see massive amounts of tank on tank combat. The fact that both sides used the top export models
of both the US and Soviet union at that time would prompt study of the engagement which would
be another influence on the coming design. Widespread use of anti tank guided missiles
and RPG-7s by the Arabs would cause many at the time to believe the end of the tank was coming.
However these would only account for around 10% of Israeli tank losses and was partly due to lack of
infantry support. This was not to say that the US ignored the clear danger posed by these new
anti tank weapons. Rather this just furthered the reasoning behind the new composite armor
as it would be ideal for defeating the sort of shaped charge warheads used on those weapons.
Following this two designs would present themselves, one from each company.
The prototypes would be delivered in 1975 with trials starting in January of 1976.
The project by now was no longer under the name of XM815 but rather was now known as the XM1. The
prototypes from each company were fairly similar in overall layout but one major difference set
them apart. The General Motors design would use a diesel engine like previous tanks. The Chrysler
design on the other hand would use a turbine engine. However these tanks would now have to
face off against a new contender, the Leopard 2. What happened next between these three tanks can
be seen as somewhat controversial, keep in mind though I have no personal bias towards any of
these and what I’m giving you is purely the information available to me. Out of the two
XM-1s the General Motors tank performed better and was expected to win. When it came time to actually
crown the winner though it would go to the Chrysler. This tank would then be put up against
the Leopard with a set of 117 criteria, although only 77 of those would be rated. The Chrysler tank
again would lose out in the initial competition only achieving 48 of the 77 criteria whereas the
Leopard 2 achieved 61. Despite the Leopard clearly being the better tank from these results the Army
would proceed to recombine the 117 criteria into 17 categories. Suddenly the XM-1 blew the Leopard
out of the water meeting 16 of the requirements compared to only 6 for the German tank.
It seems almost undeniable that this turn of events was due in some way to politics,
as Lt. Colonel George Mohrmann later recalled regarding the situation “We were sitting there
poised to deliver [the envelopes] The decision [to select GM] had been made. We were just waiting for
the Secretary of Defense to be briefed.” The call instead told him not to deliver the envelopes and
that a new round of testing would be required for the two tanks. The GM tank would now also
be required to use the turbine engine rather than the diesel. I will note that one source says this
could be due to the military having adopted Turbines for their helicopters with success.
As for why it would be chosen over the Leopard, cost is also brought up with the Leopard 2
being around 25% more expensive as well as having worse protection although its fire control system
was still deemed superior to the American model. The minor controversy I mentioned earlier reveals
itself in the fact that this program would award 20 billion in sales to an ailing Chrysler
Corporation. This leads some to view this as the first government bailout for the company.
Even if this is the case though it would not save the company with the entire defense division
later being sold off becoming the General Dynamics Land Systems Division in 1982.
The circumstances surrounding the choice of the Chrysler tank really don’t matter at this point
though as that is what was chosen and would lead to the Abrams we all know today. On November 12th
1976 the design would be announced as the winner with the first phase of production beginning soon
after. This called for 11 pilot tanks which were delivered in February 1978. These tanks
were then run through a plethora of trials with some issues benign discovered and improved on for
later production models. These include sand being ingested into the engine which was solved with
better seals, as well as tracks being shed from issues with soil build-up on the drive sprocket.
That was later resolved with a track retainer ring and a simple mud scraper being added.
Overall the Army was impressed with the design as it was a massive leap
in technology compared to the previous M60 tanks. With the improvements made the XM-1
would now enter into Low Initial Rate Production on the 7th of May 1979 with 110 being produced.
These tanks would see further testing in extreme conditions including the desert in Arizona,
arctic weather in Alaska, tropical weather in Florida, and electromagnetic and nuclear
conditions at White Sands Missile Range. After this it was accepted for full-scale production
and received its official designation as 105mm Gun Tank M1 Abrams. The tank was almost named
after General George C. Marshall. However this was changed due to sentiments from the Armor branch in
favor of naming it after Creighton Abrams who had been a key supporter of the tank as well as a tank
battalion commander during WW2 and the head of the US army during Vietnam. The M1 would enter
production in both the Lima, Ohio and Detroit, Michigan tank plants continuing until 1985.
Controversy was not done with the Abrams just yet though as it would be plunged into the world of
the American media throughout its early days. Using test reports from the early pilot XM1s it
was denounced as a waste of taxpayer dollars being essentially a lemon. Teething troubles
with early production fueled this further. These words would fall on deaf ears as the army grew
more and more enthusiastic following exercises with the tank in Germany during September of 1982.
You can definitely see why eyebrows might raise over the cost of these new machines though
as over the years the tank would see constant and costly upgrades. One of the earliest of
these being to replace the M68A1 105mm, which the production Abrams started life with, with the new
longer barreled Enhanced 105mm Gun, creative name I know. This was really just the same
gun but provided an improvement to ballistics with a longer caliber length for the barrel.
To the credit of those in charge though this was a cheaper solution than the far more costly upgrade
to the 120mm, although this was really only delayed a few years. This second upgrade to the
bigger guns would begin to take shape in March of 1981. Desire to mount the 120mm had started
brewing during the trials of the Leopard 2 and the M1 turrets had been designed to be able to mount
it right from the start. The original Rheinmetall 120 was viewed as overly complex and expensive for
the Americans so a simplified version was produced designated M256. This new variant of the Abrams
called the M1E1 also contained improvements to the transmission as well as additional frontal armor.
A new integrated NBC system was also added to the tank. While this upgrade was being
developed the improvements were implemented into an interim design which became known as the IPM1.
Production of those would begin in 1984 with 894 being produced, adding to the 2,374 normal M1s
which had already been built by January 1985. Some thought was also given to adding a Hunter-Killer
system to the M1E1 but was decided against due to increased cost. The M1E1 would eventually be
accepted for service in August of 1984 with the designation being changed to 120mm Gun Tank M1A1.
The first of these tanks would roll off the production lines in Detroit in December of 1985.
A few years later the production would again be shifted to produce yet another variant of the
M1 called the M1A1HA or Heavy Armor. This tank was equipped with a layer of depleted uranium mesh but
did nothing to change the tank's appearance. This variant would last for several years
before itself being improved once again. This new upgrade would focus more on the
internals however. The army envisioned this version as the first American digital tank,
with roughly a mile of wiring being removed from the tank. Overhauls to most of the electronic
systems would also occur and the Abrams would finally receive the CITV or hunter-killer system.
This allowed the commander to separately identify new targets while the gunner was engaging another.
This tank was eventually accepted for service in 1992 being designated 120mm Gun Tank M1A2.
The M1 would go on to be considered by multiple other nations during its early life as an export
tank. The Swiss, Saudis, British, and Pakistan would all enter negotiations to purchase it.
The Swiss chose to instead adopt the Leopard 2 with the British likewise deciding against
the Abrams with their choice being the Challenger 2. As I discussed in a previous video the Saudis
would trial the Abrams alongside the Challenger 1, AMX-40, and Brazilian Osorio with the M1A1
Abrams actually being bested in some aspects by the Brazilian competitor. The Saudis in the end
would still choose the Abrams, although they would opt to wait for the M1A2 variant. Pakistan would
test the Abrams but disagreements regarding their nuclear program would cause this to fall through.
As of today 6 countries aside from the US operate Abrams. Current operators are Australia,
Egypt, Iraq, Kuwait, Morocco, and the previously mentioned Saudi Arabian military.
Brazil and Peru are currently considering the Abrams for adoption into their militaries
although at the time of writing this neither has officially accepted it into service.
Although this is far from the end of the Abram's story, I feel this is a fitting place to wrap up
this video. If you would like to see a potential follow-up to this video detailing the actual
service of the Abram's as well as the more modern upgrades that I didn't cover yet, leave a comment
down below. Once again a massive thanks to Armored Warfare for helping me kickstart this new series.
I highly encourage you to try the game out for yourselves, and if you follow me over on twitch,
you'll likely see me streaming it sometime soon. I'd also like to give a special thanks
to the American Heritage Museum where a lot of the footage of the real Abrams that you
were seeing in the background was filmed at. If this is your first video of mine
you're seeing why not hit subscribe or click one of the videos on your screen
now if you need more convincing. Thanks for watching and I'll see you in the next video