The U.S. Army Could Soon Have the New M1E3 Abrams Tank on the Battlefield
The U.S.-made M1 Abrams is the most successful main battle tank of all time, with a combat-proven track record spanning from Operation Desert Storm to Operation Iraqi Freedom, and now the current Russia-Ukraine War.
A major reason for the M1’s staying power has been its adaptability to continual improvements—it certainly hasn’t remained frozen in time. It is slated to continue improving with the next-generation M1E3.
M1E3 from Detroit Auto Show. 19FortyFive.com Original Image.
And, in fact, 19FortyFive was able to see the new tank at the Detroit Auto Show, and we have to say, we were impressed.
All the photos in this essay are from that visit, and this is the first time this batch has been released online.
The Scoop on the M1E3 Tank
The latest news on pending upgrades to the Abrams comes to us courtesy of The War Zone’s Joseph Trevithick, who clarifies that the timeline for production of the next iteration will hinge on the performance of early prototype demonstrators in testing by operational units.
The U.S. Army’s Transformation In Contact units are expected to begin testing later this year.
Joseph cites an interview with Brent G. Ingraham, an assistant secretary of the Army, who spoke about the M1E3 program at a media roundtable during the Association of the United States Army’s annual Global Force Symposium and Exposition.
Testing will occur “this summer, early fall,” he said, adding that hopefully production of the new MBTs would then start “in the next 12 months or so.”
M1E3 Abrams Tank. Taken by 19FortyFive.com
Deeper Detailed Dive
What sort of improvements and upgrades will this next-generation edition of the time-honored Abrams have to offer?
Right now, there is only speculation. It remains to be seen how the M1E3’s configuration evolves between now and the beginning of production, and whether the next-generation tanks will be entirely new production vehicles.
This past January, the Army officially unveiled the first early prototype of the M1E3 at the Detroit Auto Show, thus accomplishing delivery years ahead of the program’s original schedule. That showroom model featured a substantially reworked hull and an uncrewed turret, but it was clearly still derived from the configuration of the latest M1A2 System Enhancement Package Version 3 (SEPv3) variant.
What’s more, General Dynamics Land Systems previously rolled out an AbramsX next-generation demonstrator with a much more significantly evolved design.
That said, the M1E3 prototype does display some key differences from the M1A2 SEPv3, such as:
M1E3 Abrams Tank. Taken by 19FortyFive.com
-A new hybrid propulsion system in place of the fuel-guzzling gas turbine found on previous Abrams models. The new configuration includes a modified Caterpillar C13D six-cylinder diesel engine and an ACT1075LP transmission from SAPA Transmission. Many officials have said the M1E3 will be 40–50 percent more fuel-efficient than earlier iterations.
– New lightweight tracks from American Rheinmetall, as well as a hydropneumatic suspension system that presumably comes from Horstman Group. The latter firm hasn’t explicitly confirmed its involvement in the M1E3 program, but did note in a post on X in January that switching “to external hydropneumatic suspension” helps “free up crew space by removing torsion bars.”
-A significantly different crew configuration. The turret is intended to be remotely operated, reducing the crew from four to three and moving them to the front of the hull. The omitted crew position is that of the loader, who is being replaced by an autoloader. Meanwhile, the M1E3’s driver will operate the tank via a controller that looks like it might come with a video game console.
The More Things Change…
One standard Abrams feature the M1E3 variant will evidently retain is the main gun—the M256 120-mm smoothbore cannon.
In this instance, the philosophy of “don’t mess with success” applies. The M256 has proven itself so deadly accurate and powerful that there’s no need or desire to replace it anytime soon.
Meanwhile…
Other interesting developments are afoot with existing Abrams MBT iterations.
A major menace to MBTs on both sides of the Russia-Ukraine War has been killer drones.
While the Turkish-made Bayraktar TB2 gained fame in the early stages of the conflict for making mincemeat of Vladimir Putin’s T-72s, Ukrainian tank crews—operating U.S.-made M1s and German-made Leopard 2 MBTs—started suffering their own heavy losses at the hands of Russia’s homegrown Lancets and Iranian-made Shaheds.
M1E3 Abrams Tank. Taken by 19FortyFive.com at Detroit Auto Show 2026.
Tankers of Ukraine’s 1st Assault Regiment came up with a simple yet ingenious remedy: applying a new variant of an anti-drone protective metal frame that only surrounds the turrets of their M1A1 variants, allowing the turrets to traverse left and right to aim their main guns.
In other words, they enabled the tanks to fight as they’ve always been expected to—dish out heavy punishment while also taking it.
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About the Author: Christian D. Orr
Christian D. Orr is a Senior Defense Editor. He is a former Air Force Security Forces officer, Federal law enforcement officer, and private military contractor (with assignments worked in Iraq, the United Arab Emirates, Kosovo, Japan, Germany, and the Pentagon). Chris holds a B.A. in International Relations from the University of Southern California (USC) and an M.A. in Intelligence Studies (with a concentration in Terrorism Studies) from American Military University (AMU). He is also the author of the book “Five Decades of a Fabulous Firearm: Celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the Beretta 92 Pistol Series, the second edition of which was recently published.
