AbramsX Could Be a Truly Revolutionary Tank: As its developer and intended manufacturer General Dynamics Land Systems (GDLS) points out, the next iteration of the M1 Abrams Main Battle Tank (MBT) is not going to be just another evolutionary improvement to the first-generation design.
Instead, the AbramsX, as it is called in the prototype phase, is a completely new approach to the design of an MBT.
The technology demonstrator platform for the program was first introduced in September 2022, at the yearly Association of the United States Army (AUSA) expo in Washington, DC.
It is being billed as the beginning of a new generation of MBTs for the US military and is devoted to tackling “emerging threats on the contemporary battlefield.”
Overall, the AbramsX is designed to be a comprehensive update of the M1’s 1980s design.
It will be lighter (60 tons as opposed to the 68 tons of the existing Abrams model), faster, more mobile, and – as it becomes increasingly important all the time – more capable of being deployed abroad.
This is of particular significance as of late given the problems encountered with the M1s that were sent to Ukraine and put into action against the Russian Army.
How The Abrams Design Concept Came to Be
Old-time and now retired US Army personnel involved in the original Abrams’ design will tell you that this program ” is responsible for bringing the Army into the digital age.”
Previous generation tanks were all-mechanical platforms that “had some advanced electronic capabilities, but these were fire control systems, improved sights, etc. that were ‘bolted on’ to the tank like the M60 series, but minus any kind of a subsystem with a central platform management module,” said a retired general officer who recalled the Abrams developmental history.
“We were working on the configuration for the crew stations, and it was a mess of cables connecting a control panel for a sensor or weapon system on one side of the turret with the wind speed indicator or the sights to the main gun on the other side. There were cables everywhere and not only would it have been a maintenance nightmare, but it was adding tremendous weight to the platform itself,” he continued.
“What General Dynamics ended up suggesting was what made the Abrams what it is today. The pointed out that the tank needed a central main mission computer (MMC) type control module that all the electronic systems in the tank plug into. The Army needed to think about the tank in the way that a fighter aircraft design team does when they ‘build’ an avionics suite.”
New Technologies for AbramsX
The new AbramsX promises to be no less of a leap in technology application and a change in overall design requirements than the transition to the original M1 from its predecessor models.
A short video released by GD not long after the technology demonstrator’s unveiling in 2022 describes the many new features of the AbramsX.
The major new innovations that are incorporated into the design is a hybrid electric diesel engine which is lighter than the standard Abrams gas turbine power plant – and accounts for a good portion of lthe ighter weight of the AbramsX.
As with the latest Russian tank, the Uralvagonzavod (UVZ) T-14 Armata, the AbramsX will feature a three-man crew and an unmanned turret. There are also major improvements to the armament of the platform.
The main gun is still a 120mm, but it is a new generation model that fires a wider spectrum of ammunition, including the Mid-Range Munitions (MRM), Advanced Multi-Purpose (AMP), and Advanced Kinetic Energy (AKE) rounds.
The AbramsX, if it is someday produced in a variant that incorporates all these changes and innovations could be a game-changer on the battlefield – mainly by making the tank more deployable and more user-friendly in multiple theatre combat environments.
The chief drawback of the current model Abrams when used in Ukraine was that there were difficulties with maintenance of the tank and the requirements for the fuel used in the turbine engine was also an issue, according to Ukrainian military personnel who spoke with 19FortyFive.
The new design also calls for the use of AI in the operation of the vehicle, which has won more than a small number of sceptics in the Pentagon and the expense of the re-design is substantial.
“It’s going to be hard for the tank community to get resources to do a major upgrade,” said Mark Cancian, a retired Marine colonel and senior adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, who spoke to the Washington Post about the program in October 2022.
M1 Abrams: A Photo Essay of a Historic Tank
M1 Abrams Tank
M1 Abrams Tank
M1 Abrams. Image Credit: Creative Commons.
M1 Abrams Tanks for Ukraine. Image: Creative Commons.
M1 Abrams. Image Credit: Creative Commons.
An M1A2 Abrams SEP V2 main battle tank, assigned to Cold Steel Troop, 1st Squadron, 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment, fires a M865 target practice cone stabilized discarding sabot with tracer on December 9, 2021, at the National Training Center and Fort Irwin training area.
About the Author: Reuben F. Johnson
Reuben F. Johnson is a survivor of the February 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine and is now an Expert on Foreign Military Affairs with the Fundacja im. Kazimierza Pułaskiego in Warsaw. He has been a consultant to the Pentagon, several NATO governments and the Australian government in the fields of defense technology and weapon systems design. Over the past 30 years he has resided in and reported from Russia, Ukraine, Poland, Brazil, the People’s Republic of China and Australia.
