M1A2 Abrams – Main Battle Tank in NATO Camouflage

About the M1A2 Abrams – Main Battle Tank in NATO Camouflage:

The M1A2 Abrams Main Battle Tanks is the result of decades worth of prototyping, research, and real-world testing. To this day, the Abrams is the most advanced Main Battle Tank (MBT) that the United States has ever produced. What started as a collaborative effort between West Germany and the United States to build a tank to compete against the T-62 has turned into a design that has lasted decades. The key to the Abrams success and longevity has been through updates and modernizations to its weapons, communication, and battlefield information systems. First production models of the Abrams entered service in 1978. Its development coincided with the arms race of the Cold War, when the Soviets were developing tanks at an alarming rate, causing the western world to keep pace. Fortunately, the Cold War never warmed and open tank battles across Europe never materialized. Even still, the Abrams tank has stood resolute. Though it never directly fought Soviet forces, the Abrams has gone toe-to-toe with Soviet era weapons on the battlefield. In each instance, the Abrams stood strong.

The more recent M1A2 designated Abrams received Pentagon approval for production in 1990. Outwardly like its predecessor, save for updates given to the Commander’s Weapon Station and an independent thermal viewer for the commander, many updates involved the Inter-Vehicle Information System (IVIS). The IVIS links supporting units and allows the commander to track movement, identify enemy targets, and disseminate information quickly. In a modern world the need for information and communication is integral to military strategy. These advancements speed up that process while enhancing the information available to the commander. As warfare has changed, head-on battles with opposing tanks have been relegated to insurgent conflicts with enemies using improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and Soviet made RPG-7s to defeat American Armor. To protect tanks and their crews, depleted uranium mesh was placed at the front of the hull and turret. The interior of the turret is further protected by a Kevlar lining to prevent spalling. Of course, a tank isn’t dominant without a serious main gun. Developed by famed German arms manufacturer Rheinmetall and built under license in the United States, the M256 120mm smoothbore gun is effective and lethal on the modern battlefield. With an advanced fire control system and range of 4 kilometers with a stabilized aiming system, the Abrams truly is the pinnacle of MBTs. As the United States’ focus has shifted from Afghanistan and the larger Middle East zone to a more global base, the look of the Abrams has also changed. The tan color that has adorned America’s fighting vehicles since the early days of the War on Terror has been replaced by a more general green, black, and brown multi-cam that is commonly referred to as NATO camo, as many of the host NATO nations utilize this scheme. The Abrams remains at the tip of the United States armored fighting force well into the Twenty-First Century.