You must not have heard. There aren't going to be any M1A1s.
The Army is on schedule to meet its goal of standing up the objective force by Chief of Staff General Eric K. Shinseki's target timeframe of 2008 to 2012. According to Army officials, the Army should attain the technological innovations needed to create the objective force as projected. Key among these are the technologies required to produce the future combat system, which will be a replacement for the 70-ton M1 Abrams tank that will have the same lethality and survivability but will weigh only 20 tons. The Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Army for Research and Technology, Dr. Michael Andrews, predicts, "By the end of [20]05, early [20]06, we will have a future combat systems demonstration. We're not having to create new technologies out of thin air."
You see any M1A1/A2 tanks in here:
