Posted on 05/20/2005 6:02:01 PM PDT by Dundee
Abrams enters familiarisation phase
Australian Army personnel are set to work with US marine corps before the arrival of Abrams tanks next year, reports John Kerin
ONE hundred Australian crewmen are in the US preparing for the arrival next year of our M1A1 AIM Abrams tanks.
Lieutenant-Colonel Duncan Hayward, of the Australian Army Abrams implementation team, says men from the Army's 1st armoured brigade in Darwin had been despatched to work with the US marine corps, and familiarise themselves with the tank before the first vehicles arrive in June next year.
Australia has bought 59 tanks dating from the mid to late-1980s for around $550 million. Most were warehoused for most of the Cold War at a US Army base in Germany.
The tanks are disassembled at Anniston Army depot and reassembled and refurbished at the joint US Army General Dynamics Lima tank plant in Ohio, with some 5000 of 6000 components being replaced as new.
A visit to the Lima tank plant reveals a state-of-the-art rebuild line where the hull and turret structure, and several other components such as engine transmission, turbine engine electronic boxes and drives are overhauled and upgraded. The tanks gets new track roadwheels, gun tubes, upgrade kits, new electronics and a new paint job.
The Australian version also gets new composite armour as opposed to depleted uranium for US tanks, but the properties of the armour are a closely guarded military secret.
The first Australian tank entered the production line at Lima last week. The first 18 tanks will be shipped to Melbourne from Lima before being shipped to Puckapunyal to the School of Armour. The rest will arrive by ship in Darwin around April 2007 where they will begin service with the 1st Armoured Brigade. The contract also includes seven heavy tank recovery vehicles.
The 63.3 tonne tank's main armament is a 120mm smoothbore cannon, but it also includes two 7.62mm machine guns and a .50 calibre machine gun. The Australian version will include an extended bustle rack, an internal weapon mount for the Steyr rifle, an infantry phone and a fitting for a canopy to protect the tankcrew from the harsh Northern Territory sun.
The Lima tank plant includes four primary manufacturing buildings turns out 120 rebuilt tanks a year mostly M1A1s, upgraded M1A2s, and M1A2 SEPs for US forces.
The US has not built a new Abrams since 1992 and the rebuild process is estimated to save 80 per cent of the cost of building a new tank.
Several tanks due for rebuild at the plant returned from Iraq after multiple rocket-propelled grenade attacks, without any structural damage.
However, service in Iraq is forcing the US Army and General Dynamics to look at a number of modifications -- including bolt-on shields to the top of the tank to make them less vulnerable to sniper fire.. Rear and underside armour is also likely to be strengthened. At least 10 US soldiers have been killed while riding partially exposed in open hatches in Abrams in Iraq, and five crew have been killed by explosives -- prompting the stronger rear and underside armor.
But the Abrams is the safest vehicle in Iraq, with up to 70 per cent of the 1100 tanks operating in Iraq having been hit by enemy fire mostly sustaining only minor damage, according to the US Army's Armor Centre at Fort Knox.
A US Army spokesman said despite the Abrams originally being designed for conventional warfare, during the Cold War, it had operated extremely well in Iraq and had tremendous "intimidation value" rolling into insurgent hotspots.
Lima tank plant officials say "crew survivability" is one of tank's strengths. Shells are stored in a separate compartment, away from the crew.
The technicians who work on the blast proof doors spend up to 18 hours adjusting them to ensure that if the shell compartment is breached, it explodes outward rather than inward -- there is no room for error.
"The rebuild process the tank goes through is really very impressive, the guys take a lot of pride in what they do ... with a high standard of workmanship," says Hayward. "Crew survivability was one of the main reasons Australia selected the Abrams tank."
Lieutenant-General Peter Leahy, Chief of Army, visited the plant in March and expressed interest in the improvements General Dynamics is making to the tanks in the wake of the urban warfare experience in Iraq.
"General Leahy was very interested in tank urban survivability ..." a US Army Lima tank plant spokesman said. "(He was) ... very anxious to be kept abreast of what the US Army does in relation to those kind of improvements."
Where are they training? Ft Knox?
Got any in surplus that Canada could buy?
I have many relatives where the tank is made in Lima, Ohio.
My Uncle was on a tour of the plant the other day.
Yeah, I suspect we could come up with some if Canada is interested.
"Don't know, where do Marines do their heavy armour training?"
Most of them at Ft Knox
where do Marines do their heavy armour training?
Much here in San Diego, Camp Pendleton. Home to over
40,000 Marines
"Much here in San Diego, Camp Pendleton. Home to over
40,000 Marines"
Pretty sure AIT is done at Ft Knox though then they go to their duty station
Interesting that the Australian Army is doing the training with the US Marines rather than the US Army.
It makes a certain amount of sense considering Australia's geography and likely local deployment areas.
Uh... the Australian Army has been operating tanks since WW1 so it's not like we don't know anything about armour ops (hell, we exchange armour instructors all the time). I suspect it is because the Marines operate their tanks like the Australian Army does.
Yeah, that's a possibility as well.
I think it's because the Marine version is more like the export version of the tank - less network centered.
Could be too that the Marines and the Aussies are more like each other - back up? Sorry, my reverse gear is busted. I'll just go forward through the obstacle and come back through it.
My humble 2 cents!!
From what Ive read,most of the frontline US army units have now switched to the M1A2,some of which are also being upgraded for urban warfare & better networking.So there's not a lot to gain from them for the Aussies.On the other hand,the US Marines still mainly operate the A1s,which will be upgraded to the A2 standard.
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