M1 Abrams

A rendered image of M1 Abrams

### Unit cost

US$6.21 million (M1A2 / FY99) Estimated in 2016 as US$8.92 million (with inflation adjustment)

### Variants

* M1
* M1A1
* M1A2
* M1A3 (Abrams X)
* M1A4 (Abrams X)
* K1A1 (South Korean variant)
* K2 Black Panther (South Korean variant)

## Specifications

### Primary Armament

* M1: 105 mm L/52 M68A1 rifled gun (55 rounds)
* M1A1: 120 mm L/44 M256 smoothbore gun (40 rounds)
* M1A2/A3/A4: 120 mm L/44 M256 smoothbore gun (42 rounds)

### Second Armament

* 1 × 0.50 caliber (12.7 mm) M2HB heavy machine gun with 900 rounds
* 2 × 7.62 mm (.308 in) M240 machine guns with 10,400 rounds (1 pintle-mounted, 1 coaxial)

### Nicknames

Abrams tank

The **M1 Abrams** (/ˈeɪbrəmz/) is a third-generation American main battle tank designed by Chrysler Defense (now General Dynamics Land Systems) and named for General Creighton Abrams.

The M1 Abrams was developed from the failed MBT-70 project that intended to replace the obsolete M60 tank. There are three main operational Abrams versions, the M1, M1A1, and M1A2, with each new iteration seeing improvements in armament, protection, and electronics.

## History

***This article is a stub, please expand it!***
***See also: History of the M1 Abrams***
Through the 1960s the US Army and Bundeswehr had collaborated on a single design that would replace both the M60 tank and the Leopard 1. The overall goal was to have a single new design with improved firepower to handle new Soviet tanks like the T-62, while providing improved protection against the T-62's new 115 mm smoothbore gun and especially high-explosive anti-tank (HEAT) rounds.

The resulting design, the MBT-70, incorporated new technologies across the board. A hydropneumatic suspension provided improved cross-country ride quality and also allowed the entire tank to be raised or lowered by the driver. New 1,500 hp (1,100 kW) engines powered the designs which could both reach 43 miles per hour (69 km/h). The American version used a 152 mm gun whose primary long-range weapon was the Shillelagh missile.

While the design was highly capable, its weight continued to grow, as did its budget. By 1969, the unit cost stood at five times the original estimates, causing the Department of Defense to suspend the program. Development of the tank continued on an austere basis until January 1970, when the DoD and Germany ended their partnership.

The U.S. Army began work on an austere version of the MBT-70, named XM803. The Army's changes were insufficient to allay concerns about the tank's cost. Congress canceled the XM803 in December 1971 but permitted the Army to reallocate remaining funds to develop a new main battle tank.

Through the period while the initial prototypes were being built, a debate broke out between Germany and US about the use of the 105 mm gun. The Army was planning on introducing several new types of ammunition for the 105 that would greatly improve its performance, notably, the XM-774 using depleted uranium. These rounds would give it the performance needed to defeat any Soviet tank with ease. There was some concern that depleted uranium would not be allowed in Germany, perhaps just in peacetime, so improvements to the tungsten cored M735 were also considered.

Through this same period, there was an ongoing effort to improve NATO logistics by standardizing ammunition to the maximum possible degree. The Germans were moving ahead with their 120 mm gun on the Leopard 2K, and noted that the British had also introduced a 120 mm gun of their own in keeping with their long-range combat doctrine.

By 1977 the decision had been made to eventually move the new tank to a 120 mm gun. After head-to-head testing between the Royal Ordnance L11A5 and the Rh-120, the latter was chosen and later type-classified as the M256. The turret designs of the two prototypes were modified to allow either gun to be fitted. Although the L11/M256 120mm gun was chosen to be the main weapon of the Abrams in 1979, the improved ammunition for the gun still was not fully developed, thus delaying its fielding until 1984.

The early production versions of the M1 Abrams (M1 & IPM1) were armed with the M68A1 for two reasons. First was due to the large number of M60 tanks with the M68E1 gun still in widespread US service in the 1980s and a large on-hand stockpile of 105mm munitions. Fitting the M1 with the M68A1 gun was viewed as an economical and practical solution that allowed for commonality in ammunition among the two types of tanks. Secondly was that the M68A1 could employ the newly developed M900 APFSDS depleted uranium round that had improved penetration performance in comparison to the M774.

After the arrival of the Republic, the M1 Abrams were used extensively in the Three galactic wars such as the Clone Wars, the First Galactic Civil War, the Terran-Grysk War and the Second Galactic Civil War.

## Variants

There are three main operational Abrams versions, the M1, M1A1, and M1A2, with each new iteration seeing improvements in armament, protection, and electronics.

The latest variant operated by the US Armed Forces is the M1A3 and M1A4 AbramsX which was used by both US Army and Marine Corps along with the M10 Booker/Griffin II light tank, it serves as a successor to the older variants of the M1 Abrams used by the US Armed Forces, which was sold to the Allies of the United States in Terran Alliance and later the New Republic.

## Gallery

A Platoon of M1 Abrams during Terran Campaign on Earth.The M1 Abrams tanks rolling in the deserts of the Middle East during Gulf War.A bunch of M1 Abrams tanks during the Iraqi insurgency of 2003.An Abrams tank crossing a river.Two Abrams tanks were destroyed by an RPG after firing on Terrorist positions.A USMC M1A1 Abrams firing on test targets.A destroyed AbramsAn Abrams tank in GermanyA US M1 Abrams Tank and Russian T-90 during the Second Battle of Coruscant.M1 Abrams with 105mm cannonM1 Abrams autoloading systems.The US Air Force dropping M1 Abrams into the deserts of Jakku.A Ukrainian M1A2 Abrams.The M1 AbramsX, the latest variant of the M1 series.Paladin Tank (ROTR).pngNew Republic variant of M1 Abrams.New Republic Army M1 Abrams.A heavily fortified M1A2 Abrams used by the US Army against the Imperial Forces.An M1A2 Abrams activates it's active protection system.The improved M1A3 Abrams-X for the US Marine Corps.Anti-Landmine M1A5 Abrams-X used by the US Army.The improved variant M1A4 AbramsX for the US Army.
## See also

* All Terrain Armored Transport - Imperial counterpart.
* T-90 Vladimir - Russian counterpart.
* Leopard 2 - German counterpart.