M1 ABRAMS

The M1 Abrams is an American third-generation main battle tank produced by the United States. It
is named after GeneralCreighton Abrams, former Army Chief of Staff and Commander of U.S.
military forces in the Vietnam War from 1968 to 1972. Highly mobile, designed for modern armored
ground warfare,[10] the M1 is well armed and heavily armored. Notable features include the use of a
powerful gas turbine engine (multifuel), the adoption of sophisticated composite armor, and separate
ammunition storage in a blow-out compartment for crew safety. Weighing nearly 68 short
tons (almost 62 metric tons), it is one of the heaviest main battle tanks in service.

The M1 Abrams entered U.S. service in 1980, replacing the M60 tank. The M1 remains the principal
main battle tank of the United States Army andMarine Corps, and the armies of Egypt, Kuwait, Saudi
Arabia, Australia, and Iraq.

The Abrams is protected by armor based on the British-designed Chobham armor, a further
development of the British 'Burlington' armor. Chobham is a composite armor formed by spacing
multiple layers of various alloys of steel, ceramics, plastic composites, and kevlar

Beginning in 1987, M1A1 tanks received improved armor packages that incorporated depleted
uranium (DU) components in their armor at the front of the turret and the front of the hull. Armor
reinforced in this manner offers significantly increased resistance towards all types of anti-tank
weaponry

Armament
The main armament of the original model M1 was the M68A1 105 mm rifled tank gun firing a variety
of high explosive anti-tank, high explosive, white phosphorus and an anti-
personnel (multiple flechette) round. This gun is a license-built version of the British Royal Ordnance
L7 gun.

Secondary

The Abrams tank has four machine guns:

1. A .50 cal. (12.7 mm) M2HB machine gun in front of the commander's hatch. On the M1, M1A1, and M1A2
this gun is on a flex mount, the commander having to expose himself to manually fire the weapon.

2. A 7.62 mm M240 machine gun in front of the loader's hatch on a skate moun..

3. A second 7.62 mm M240 machine gun in a coaxial mount to the right of the main gun.

4. (Optional) A second coaxial 12.7 mm M2HB machine gun can be mounted directly above the main gun in a
remote weapons platform as part of the TUSK upgrade kit.

The M1 Abrams' powertrain comprises a 1,500 shaft horsepower Honeywell AGT 1500 (originally made
by Lycoming) multi-fuelgas turbine, and a six speed (four forward, two reverse) Allison X-1100-3B Hydro-
Kinetic automatic transmission, giving it a governed top speed of 45 mph (72 km/h) on paved roads, and
30 mph (48 km/h) cross-country. With the engine governor removed, speeds of around 60 mph (97 km/h)
are possible on an improved surface