TUSK to update Abrams for urban battle (TREAD-HEAD ALERT)

ARNEWS ^ | 03/09/05 | Eric W. Cramer

[SandRat]

The M1A2 Abrams tank is shown with TUSK improvements that will adapt it for the urban battlefield.

TUSK to update Abrams for urban battle

By Eric W. Cramer
March 9, 2005

WASHINGTON (Army News Service, March 9, 2005) -- The Abrams tank is growing a TUSK – that’s Tank Urban Survival Kit, a series of improvements, including some still in development.

TUSK will allow Soldiers in the field to improve the Abrams’ ability to survive in urban areas off the traditional battlefield for which it was designed.

Lt. Col. Michael Flanagan, product manager for TUSK, said the goal is to help improve the tank’s survivability.

“You have to remember, the tank was a Cold War design, aimed at a threat that was always to its front. It’s still the most survivable weapon in the arsenal from the front,” Flanagan said. “Today it’s a 360-degree fight, and these systems are designed to improve survivability in that urban environment.”

The TUSK includes additional protection at the loader’s gun station on the turret, the commander’s gun station, reactive armor to protect the tank’s side from attack by rocket-propelled grenades and slat armor to protect the tank’s rear from the same weapon, and the tank/infantry telephone to allow infantry and armor Soldiers to work together in combat.

Flanagan said all the proposed upgrades use “off the shelf” technology, and the goal is for the entire TUSK to be applied by units in the field, without requiring a return to a depot for modification.

“The reactive armor, for example, is a product similar to what’s on the Bradley (Armored Fighting Vehicle),” Flanagan said. “It’s explosive armor that protects the vehicle.”

Another example would be the slat armor designed to protect the tank’s rear from RPG attack. It is similar in design and concept to the slat armor used on the Stryker armored vehicles for the same purpose.

The first TUSK component to reach the field has been the Loader’s Armored Gun Shield, which provides protection to the loader when the Soldier is firing the 7.62mm machinegun on the Abrams’ turret. Flanagan said about 130 of the shields have already been purchased and sent to units in Iraq. Also incorporated into the loader’s firing position is a thermal sight, giving the position the ability to locate and fire on targets in the dark.

“This is the same unit that is used on machineguns carried by infantry troops, and we’ve incorporated it into the loader’s position,” Flanagan said. He said a system that attaches a pair of goggles to the sight, allowing the loader to fire the gun from inside the turret, while seeing the thermal sight’s image, is under development.

Also under development are improvements to the commander’s station outside the turret, although different systems are necessary for the M-1A2 Abrams and its older M1-A1 brethren.

“Because of things we added to the turret in the A2, the commander’s station had lost the ability to shoot the .50-caliber machinegun while under armor,” Flanagan said. “We’re developing a Remote Weapons Station, that will probably be similar to the one used on the Stryker, to allow that weapon to be fire from inside the turret.”

Flanagan said the design could also allow the use of the crewed weapon station used on Humvees, but a final determination hasn’t been made.

Ultimately, most of these add-ons will be incorporated into a kit – installed in the field and removed in the field as a pre-positioned component for the next Abrams unit to take duty in that location. Flanagan said some kits will begin to reach the field later this year.

At least some of the kits’ components may also be included in new Abrams’ production.

“The loader’s shield and the remote weapons station, and the tank/infantry telephone all may be included as regular production items in the tank,” Flanagan said. “It’s important to remember that the Abrams will continue to be the dominant weapons system for the Army until at least 2030.”

 

[endthematrix]

Re: flame thrower?

Would white phosphorous rounds followed by some beehive darts suffice?

[Lurker]

To be able to kill bad guys who are hiding in urban areas.

L

[SandRat]

Armed Services committees might pay heed; it's not over-engineering when the military asks for these capabilities and they get blown off by staffers and Representatives who just can't understand why they are needed---until the body bags show up.

But then it's the Service fault because they didn't write the RFP correctly and foresee this (~KongressKritter is a)running for reelection, b)has a grieving Mom on his back and wants to get reelected by blaming the service, c)grandstanding for the MSM to make a run for the BIG office, and d) is John Kerry or Nancy Pelosi.)

[Calpernia]

I assumed that much.

[Calpernia]

Is there a foreseen urban need?

[Strategerist]

Hope they show a little more imagination next time they build a major system.

At the time the Abrams was designed people were worried about 10,000 Warsaw Pact Tanks pouring over the Inter-German Border. It's design was perfectly understandable and reasonable.

[Lurker]

Well then you answered your own question.

And just for the record, the Defense Department is absolutely incapable of dealing with unforseen needs. I think it's a Law or something.

L

[SandRat]

Rather than fighting Nation State wars solely we can expect more combat to be asymetrical and require combat in urban areas. This is nothing new, it used to be an acronym MOUT Military Operations Urban Terrain during the cold war and in WWII was just a pain in the tucas. If you're prepared for it and equiped for it it can clean your clock. Stalingrad, Berlin are both good example of how the SNAFU the MOUT battle and get your clock cleaned and how to do it right.

[Redcloak]

Why do I have the USC marching band playing in my head?

[SandRat]

It comes with the territory of PMs more interested in their Star and a Legion of Merit or the VP slot with the Contractor they are supposed to be supervising and a Legion of Merit than doing their job and listenting to the troops on the ground.

[SandRat]

Why do I have the USC marching band playing in my head?

I don't know why do you?

[Calpernia]

Was there a sudden prepared need?

[spetznaz]

Beautiful machine.

[Billthedrill]

Huh...not that we'd ever need this sort of thing, but what kind of camouflage goes best in, oh, say, Damascus? Not that we'd ever want to go there...

[Lurker]

Yea, and the German heartland is entirely non-urban....

The Abrams was designed to stop Soviet Tanks at the Fulda Gap. There was never a thought to making it an urban fighting platform.

It's superb at killing enemy vehicles at long range. Its utility as an urban platform remains to be seen. From the reports I've seen, it's not doing all that well.

Hence the need for a 'retrofit' as it's politely called.

L

[Valin]

Tread head alert!

[SandRat]

Most of the technology is not new, drawings, specifications, maybe even components were already available along with tool and die machines, when someboy listened to the troops and went: "Aha! That's a good idea."

[Calpernia]

Ok. Sorry. Nice piece of machinery.

[SandRat]

That's a stumper having never seen downtown Damascus but I'm sure genius is try to figure it out.

Speaking of cammo stuff see if you can get hold of a book about a British Cammo officer in WWII called The Magician you'd like it with such an interest in cammo stuff.

[SandRat]

No don't be. You're asking some very good questions. Better than the MSM ever ask.