The transformation of the Army continues. It’s just that part of the transformation involves keeping the M-1 Abrams main battle tank production lines open for an extra eight years. Operations in Iraq have affirmed heavy armor’s worth, according to Army Times. (subscription only)
Fort KNOX, Ky. The armor community is alive and well and the 70-ton Abrams tank has a bright future on the urban battlefield, even in a force moving increasingly toward lighter, more mobile fighting platforms, Army leaders said.
Without tanks, we dont have combined arms, said Gen. B.B. Bell, commanding general of Eighth U.S. Army Korea, who spoke to a packed auditorium May 18 during this years Armor Warfighting Symposium about tank successes on the Iraq battlefield.
Bell emphasized the tanks important role in a complicated fight, pointing to its decades-old lethality, ability to adapt to open terrain and urban settings, the survivability factor for crews, and the fact that a heavy-armor task force can be deployed in as little as 96 hours.
Bell points out that urban operations are nothing new for the Army, and that tanks are major part of our ability to be successful in the cities. Tanks led the way during the initial invasion and have been prominent weapons in nearly every major operation as well as important in the day-to-day mission.
Vice Chief of Staff of the Army Gen. Richard Cody pointed out that the Army was not really prepared for modern warfare before the 9/11 attacks in 2001. It was under-trained, under-equipped, and in a generally-poor state of maintenance. But war has changed that to a great extent, and the place of the tank in the new and improved US Army has been re-thought.
The opportunity to invest came to fruition when we went to war, [Col. Larry Hollingsworth, Heavy Brigade Combat Team project manager] said. It became apparent to people that the risks you could assume with your force during a peacetime environment were very different from the risks you could assume during wartime.
If youre not going to fight with tanks and Bradleys, you may not want to invest in them the same way as if you were going to have to roll them into Baghdad. I think thats what our entire Army has seen, Hollingsworth said.
Note the machine gun shield with ballistic glass in the pictured M1A1 (pic from DoD). This is a recent addition to the old warhorse which increases protection while maintaining vital sight lines for the man on the gun. Other improvements for the M1, collectively known as the TUSK program (“Tank Urban Survival Kit”), are in the pipeline to transform our tanks into even more lethal monsters on today’s battlefields, also known quaintly as “cities”. Many times “transformation” isn’t revolutionary but instead incremental.
It’s not been just tanks, either, that have had their worth re-evaluated lately. It’s also been the B-52 bomber, the A-10 attack plane, the 7.62x51mm rifle round, the M79 “blooper” grenade launcher, and many other systems, most of which are considered “old school” and had been slated for retirement. Some had already been put out to pasture but rushed back into service when the need arose. Sometimes it is because new gee-whiz gadgets don’t work as expected, and we could have worse problems than to learn that the systems we already have are the ones we need.
–cross-posted by Murdoc
{ 21 comments… read them below or add one }
Good Morning Folks,
This appears to be one of those half measures that the DoD uses and then comes back to bite them.
Although the M-1 Abrams is still one of todays premier Main Battle Tanks it is getting old and long in the tooth.
The M-1 doesn’t even have the latest version of its own technologhy even in the A-3 Moderization.
Example it’s 120mm smooth bore gun, of German design has been up graded to a high pressure barrel that extends the range of the weapon by 50%. This main gun is already on tanks from Germany and Israel.
Both Russia (T-95 Tank) and China (Type 90 Tank) are currently being marketed as “Abrams Killers”. Bothe were said to be rady for market in 07, but I double either will be ready before the decade runs out. But never the less they are on there way.
One of the technologies being fielded on both the Russian and Chinese tanks is a laser device designed to to detect and disable the the optical range finder on the M-1 Abrams. These devices have been bata tested and are ready for a platform.
If the United States wants to remain a world power the defense estlabishment has to start thinking about future enemies besides al Qaeda. Both Pakistan and Iran have alread invested in a generation of tanks newer the the M-1A2 Abrams.
Footnote: The M-2/M-3 A-2/A-3 Bradley is also at its end. All second party countries including Finland has upgraded the Bradley IFV beyone its current A-3 Moderization. Our FRIENDS and ALLIES in South Korea even went so far in 04 as to pass on the Bradley and licence local production the Russian BMP-3 over buying more Bradleys.
ALLONS,
Byron Skinner
Don’t hold your breath on the emerging FCS vehicles. They are a total joke! The Strykers also are weak with their paper thin walls and endless flat tires.
I’ve spent time in the M1A1 and the BFV and they are very old and very uncomfortable. Unfortunately the FCS MGVs are far worse!
FCS likely will be cancelled so we will be stuck with what we have.
Bullshit.
“the Army was not really prepared for modern warfare before the 9/11 attacks in 2001. It was under-trained, under-equipped, and in a generally-poor state of maintenance. ”
Bullshit. Sounds like the decepticons are still playing ‘pin the blame on Clinton.’
What an honest person should say is “the army was not really prepared for Counterinsurgancy, and particularly urban counter-insurgency before the Iraq invasion in 2003. It was under-manned, under-trained, and under-equipped.”
But when a bunch of incompetants are in charge, you go to war with the army you have, not the one you could have changed it into with 2 1/2 years of lead time.
Frankly, its worth noting that the M1 and M2/3 are Carter era weapons. 30 years as the world best tank? Not a bad record. And look at the opposition: ‘ready for market’- not ‘about to be deployed in large numbers’
Let me be clear, I think TUSK is great and yes, now that we are at war, we should be upgrading our fielded equipement at a much faster rate then in peacetime for the new threat (insurgency)… we should be deploying more advanced mine proof vehicles now that its obvious that we need them…
What we see here is more republican bullshit excuse making.
Dylan,
You know, I’ve heard plenty of people say similar “Strykers are thin-skinned with weak tires” comments. Often times by people not working with them in a combat zone. And I’ve heard a non-trivial number of accounts of soldiers driving these things home after ordeals they felt would have crippled most vehicles.
Has there been any sort of layman’s roundup of these buggers? I seem to recall POGO asking for first hand accounts, but I don’t think I ever read any conclusions. What are the odds we could get a DefenseTech contributor to do an unofficial roundup?
–Christopher Karel
CK:
David Axe, for one, is a big Stryker fan: http://www.defensetech.org/archives/001923.html
nms
As a Citizen I find it hard to understand why the M1 upgrade program (can never keep track of what it is called – M1A3 perhaps?) that would among other things triple the average fuel economy of the M1 fleet hasn’t been pushed through on greased skids. The cost is trivial compared to, e.g. the useless ballistic missile “defense” and the advantages to the troops actually in the field…. Oh wait, now I understand.
Cranky
Well, there are worse things for the armed forces to spend their money on-Ospreys are at the top of the list.
Heaping praise on the Abrams doesn’t make the Abrams’ problems go away: it’s strategic mobility is limited and the logistics of resupplying tanks that need several gallons to go a mile are not favorable.
Of course, nobody remembers the early days of OIF when we ran low on fuel, food, water and ammo and had to cannibalize vehicles…against an opponent who had been similiarly crippled, except for a decade or so.
While I agree that the militatry still needs tanks they will eventually be passed up for more lightly armored and faster AFVs. An Abrmas gives off a lot of heat allowing it’s position to be pinpointed with a UAV or other recon aircraft. It is effective in urban combat but it doesnt look good when we fling a tank shell back at a sniper bullet. While I hate to admit it Light Infantry and other highly mobilie forces are going to be the death of it. The enemy we fight now mostly uses small infantry units which restrict the tank’s ability to chase them in an urban area, but infantry can chase them anywhere they go, plus a tank attracts a lot of fire putting the crew in danger. Plus on the news ( I hate The Press ) they make it seem like the big American is driving around in our tanks mowing down everything we see. An infantryman can clear a building but a tank has to fire a round into the building to neutrilize the enemy. So, even though I want to be a tanker when I join the Marines I have to admit that infantry and helicopter born forces are eventually going to take over.
I TOOK THE M1 ALL OVER THE WORLD. WELL A LOT OF IT ANY WAY.THE RIDE WAS GRATE COMPAIRED TO AN M60 OR AN M48 . THE ONE THING THAT I DID LIKE ABOUT THE M60 WAS THE TANK COMMANDERS [[ AUTOBOAN ]]SEAT. I WOULD TELL MY FRIENDS THAT IF YOU CAN SEE IT YOU CAN KILL IT .I ONCE HIT A HARD TARGET AT NIGHT IN ECESS OF 4700 METTERS FROM THE TC POSSION. MY GUNNER WENT ON TO BET MY SHOT A SHORT TIME LATER .IF YOU WANT A REAL HARD RIDE GO TO EGYPT AND RIDE AN M60 FOR A DAY . THEN YOU CAN TO ME ABOUT A TIREING RIDE .MAD DOG 22 1/64 ARMOR RET . M37ESCORT@ATT.NET
The US Army should be concerned with next gen soviet tanks as well a current gen. The planned design fo the T-100 or the T-110 has a height of 6-8 feet. A fully automated turret, rate of fire of 10 rounds a minute with a soon to be made rifled 155mm gun, and with a more effiecent engine than the Abrams. Translations, fast, hard hitting, and hard to hit. That is the real scary shit.
The US Army should be concerned with next gen soviet tanks as well a current gen. The planned design fo the T-100 or the T-110 has a height of 6-8 feet. A fully automated turret, rate of fire of 10 rounds a minute with a soon to be made rifled 155mm gun, and with a more effiecent engine than the Abrams. Translations, fast, hard hitting, and hard to hit. That is the real scary shit.
i hope we win this war.dear godhelp us win this!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Don’t hold your breath on the emerging FCS vehicles. They are a total joke! The Strykers also are weak with their paper thin walls and endless flat tires.
Don’t hold your breath on the emerging FCS vehicles. They are a total joke! The Strykers also are weak with their paper thin walls and endless flat tires.
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