M1a1 Abrams Tanks Views

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Three main versions of the M1 Abrams have been deployed, the M1, M1A1, and M1A2, incorporating improved armament, protection and electronics. These improvements, as well as periodic upgrades to older tanks have allowed this long-serving vehicle to remain in front-line service. The M1A3 is currently under development.[7]

About 6000 M1A1 Abrams were produced from 1986–92 and featured the M256 120# mm smoothbore cannon developed by Rheinmetall AG of Germany for the Leopard 2, improved armor, and a CBRN protection system. Production of M1 and M1A1 tanks totaled some 9,000 tanks at a cost of approximately $4.30 million per unit.[2]

The Abrams remained untested in combat until Operation Desert Storm in 1991. A total of 1,848 M1A1s were deployed to Saudi Arabia. The M1A1 was superior to Iraq's Soviet-era T-55 and T-62 tanks, as well as Iraqi-assembled Russian T-72s, and locally-produced copies (Asad Babil tank). The T-72s, like most Soviet export designs, lacked night vision systems and then-modern rangefinders, though they did have some night fighting tanks with older active infrared systems or floodlights. A total of 23 M1A1s were damaged or destroyed during the war.[10] Some others took minor combat damage, with little effect on their operational readiness. Very few M1 tanks were hit by enemy fire, and there was only one fatality, along with a handful of woundings as a result.

The M1A1 was capable of making kills at ranges in excess of 2,500r metres (8,200  ft). This range was crucial in combat against tanks of Soviet design in Desert Storm, as the effective range of the main gun in the Soviet/Iraqi tanks was less than 2,000p metres (6,600n ft) (Iraqi tanks could not fire anti-tank missiles like their Russian counterparts according to Russian state media). This meant Abrams tanks could hit Iraqi tanks before the enemy got in range—a decisive advantage in this kind of combat. In friendly fire incidents, the front armor and fore side turret armor survived direct APFSDS hits from other M1A1s. This was not the case for the side armor of the hull and the rear armor of the turret, as both areas were penetrated at least in two occasions by friendly depleted uranium ammunition during the Battle of Norfolk.[11]