DESIGN
The M1 ‘Abrams’ was designed to replace the
Vietnam era M60 ‘Patton’. In the 70’s Germany
and the United States started a program to
develop a new main battle tank together.
The MBT 70 was to be fitted with a 152mm
cannon. The M551 ‘Sheridan’ gave the 152mm
cannon a bad name. The program was cancelled
and both countries started to develop their
own turret on the already completed hull.
This resulted in the Leopard 2 and the M1
‘Abrams’. The M1 ‘Abrams’ was fitted with
the British L7 105mm cannon. Later a more
powerful cannon was needed. The 120mm Rheinmetall
L/44 cannon was fitted to the Abrams and
is since then the main armament of the Abrams. |
| The first version of the M1 Abrams. It was
designed to replace the M60 Patton. The armor
of the M1 Abrams did not give adequate protection
versus the Russian 125mm shells. That is
why some M1 Abrams were fitted with the upgraded
armor of the M1A1. They were given the name
Improved M1 ‘Abrams’. |
| The M1A1 is built since 1985. It is the first
version of the Abrams to be fitted with the
Rheinmetall 120mm cannon, which is much more
powerful. It also features better armor.
The M1A1 HA is a M1A1 fitted with the better
armor of the M1A2. |
The M1A2 is has better armor than the M1A1.
It has a new targeting system and better
electronics.
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PERFORMANCE
The M1 Abrams is one of the best main battle
tanks in use at this moment. For certain
it is the largest tank at this moment. Therefore
it has a large silhouette and more important,
while having the same weight and a larger
surface than other modern tanks, one can
only conclude that the Abrams is as well
protected as other modern tanks. The depleted
uranium of the M1A1/2 cannot bridge the gap
between the Abrams and modern armor. The
120mm cannon is a great improvement over
the old 105mm cannon and the targeting systems
are state of the art.
USE
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2374 M1, most upgraded
894 IPM1, some upgraded
4994 M1A1
? M1A1 HA
268 M1A2, planned 1079 |
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551 M1A1 with M1 armor |
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315 M1A2 |
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218 M1A2 |
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