The M1 Abrams Tank: Too Fat To Fight A War?

19FortyFIve ^ | 1/27/2021 | Caleb Larson

[Onthebrink]

Too ‘fat’ to fight?: Ironically the M1 Abrams tank has become more logistically complicated as it has become better armed and better protected, resulting in a platform that some would argue is of dubious combat effectiveness.

The Challenge

There is an argument to be made that the United Sates’s main battle tank, the venerable M1 Abrams, is the best-protected, most effective, and certainly one of the most combat-tested tanks in the world.

[Blueflag]

“I think we need to take the humans out of the loop.”

Ref: War Games the movie.

Didn’t work so well in 1977 either.

[woweeitsme]

Wow...opened this up and though we were talking about Stacy. My bad!

[OKSooner]

I have bad news for your friend. The services are all going all chicks. No place for men... except up front becoming casualties, of course.

Don't believe me? Check out the latest Air Force recruiting commercials. They're glorious. /s

[OKSooner]

"But count on having some MBA with a spreadsheet disprove that."

Yes, Robert McNamara and his whiz kids from 1965 will ride again...

[RinaseaofDs]

Frankly, the AF isn’t the worst place in the world for them.

They don’t belong anywhere near the front lines. No infantry, armor, or artillery.

Ever see an infantry company shuck their MOPP gear in the desert?

No woman needs to be anywhere near that, nor should they be.

They need to be in the rear, heels up, squirting out more infantry replacements.

[RitchieAprile]

busting track on an ACAV was no joke - an M1 must be mission impossible...

[SES1066]

One recall of memory about expert opinion since it was about the Abrams MBT in an earlier time. At Gulf War 1, there were critics / experts that gave a dead-in-use forecast on the turbine-powered Abrams in the desert sands. Turbines were great for use in Europe where the tank was designed for anti-Warsaw Pact battle. In the desert sands of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait & Iraq, it would be a maintenance nightmare and a breakdown queen.

NOT SAYING that this topic is incorrect BUT expertise is as fallible as non experts!

[Bishop_Malachi]

Some form of armored battle vehicle will always be needed. My understanding is that the modern Abrams had acheived a weight of well over 70 tons. Not only was rapid deployment in large numbers a challenge, but crossing bridges and dealing with muddy/soft terrain was becoming more of an issue. These are just complaints that I’ve read about as I’m not military myself.

But I think it’s safe to say in a straight up tank versus tank fight, it has few (if any) equals.

[DCBryan1]

Heh...my Army DL had M60A3 TTS, XM1, M1, and M1A1 on it.....Never saw the A2 or upgrades.

[TermLimits4All]

I would think the lightly armed comment is true for the most part since most citizens do not have fully automatic firearms. That however is short term if a civil war scenario plays out. I would think those who are fighting would, in short order, compile many fully automatic firearms from any military tasked with fighting the American citizens. Just my thinking though. They may just bomb the crap out of the people and then who knows.

[Candor7]

Remember Commercial grade dynamite will be employed by our freedom fighters. And the whole thing is likely to start in the Sanctuary Cities and their airports.

Francis Marion is beginning to awaken and it scares the crap out of DHS.

[Joe 6-pack]

The A2 was in the very early stages of being fielded when I was still wearing armor brass. I was stationed at Riley with A1 heavies and never saw the A2, but our battalion went to Knox for a SIMNET rotation and I got to play around on the A2 simulator. At the time, I recall telling a friend it was like stepping out of a ‘55 Thunderbird and into an ‘84 Corvette.

[Lib-Lickers 2]

wasn’t it Dan Rather reporting that the Abrams would break down in the desert from all of the sand intake so the troops covered their intakes with panty hose and went right on kicking?

[atc23]

Interesting post - thanks

[Texas Fossil]

Yep

[Yo-Yo]

What war are we going to fight with tanks?

You never know when those pesky Canadians will come down out of the North to take over our Maple tree groves...

[BroJoeK]

"What war are we going to fight with tanks?"

Hopefully none, if we are prepared to fight anywhere any time, you know: peace through strength?
Wars happen when your adversaries think you are weak enough to challenge.

All told about 10,000 Abrams were built, of which 25% are now operated by countries like Australia, Egypt & Saudi Arabia.
The rest are in US inventories, in various stages of upgrade.

Bottom line: any weapon, regardless of how capable, has its uses & limitations.
If you send the wrong weapons into the wrong type of battle, you are just begging to get your b*tts kicked.
Still as of today, Abrams is the ultimate battle-beast, still effective in many different situations, so effective it deters potential aggressors and thus earns its keep.

Of course militaries are always looking for something faster, lighter, simpler, more capable, better protected, but short of a magic wand, you don't get all those in one package.
Here's what they have so far:

[Texas Fossil]

Valid criticism.

We are universally vulnerable because of over dependence on technology.

And “almost” nobody knows how to fix anything anymore. Just buy new one?

[Texas Fossil]

May be, but I sure doubt it will help much.

[Texas Fossil]

Possibly, but I doubt it.