The Abrams has the additional advantage of being able to fire accurately at night and on the move.
Modern tanks fight, in effect, by shooting arrows at each other.
The Marine tanks have been doing well against Iraqi armor too, according to U.S. briefers in Saudi Arabia. Still, the T-72 can be a formidable opponent at close range, according to retired Army Maj. Gen. Donn Starry, one of the Abrams's developers. Before the allied air war against Iraq started Jan. 17, it was estimated that Iraq had more than 4,000 tanks in or near Kuwait, including about 500 T-72s assigned to elite Republican Guard armored units. Allied units have knocked out more than 400 Iraqi tanks in the ground war, briefers said yesterday, which, added to the estimated 1,700 tanks destroyed in the air war, means at least half the Iraqi tank force has been eliminated.