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Abrams Armor Buff Issue
The current M1 Abrams in-game is experiencing drastic underperformance in armor protection compared to reality, particularly in the front and side armor of the hull and turret.
ABOUT SWEDISH TRIAL:
One thing to be declared is that the Swedish Trial is only PARTIAL authentic and misleading, as the sector includes both hull front and side. With this arrangement, any upgrades regarding the hull armor package (green part) will be IGNORED, and the overall protection value will be LIMITED by the vulnerable and unchanged hull side armor (red part). Therefore, the Swedish Trial cannot determine the protection of the hull front armor package.
Moreover, the newsletter press suggests that the armor package received by Sweden is inferior and has no DU implemented (Inside the Pentagon Vol. 9, No. 14, April 8, 1993, pp.10-11). Therefore, the ballistic map shown in the Swedish Trial cannot refer to the actual protection level of the Abrams operated by the US Army, which has more advanced protection.
Spoiler
HULL FRONT & SIDE ARMOR:
Currently in the game, the hull front armor of all Abrams is slightly below 400mm against KE, which is not historically or realistically accurate.
Page 1 of ADA226890 (1990 ARI report) mentions “additional armor on the front slope of the chassis”, which is the hull front armor upgrade implemented on M1A1 since 1986, known as the BRL-II (similar to the turret upgrade). The BRL-II is about 30% tougher than the BRL-I (provides protection about 350mm against KE, 750mm against SC) used for the initial M1 in 1980. Moreover, Annex B in file CIA-RDP91B00390R000300220014-8 clearly writes “Special Armor by this definition does not apply to future armor development such as that within the M1A1 Abrams tank”, suggesting that the armor package used by M1A1 is different from that of the 1980 M1 Abrams tank. Therefore, the hull front protection for M1A1 and more advanced variants should be at least 350 * 1.3 = 455 mm protection against KE threats, and the in-game hull front armor modeling for Abrams tanks is problematic.
Page 46 of the FY 2007 Supplemental Request suggests that “Survivability improvements include Frontal Armor and Turret Side Armor upgrades” for the M1A2 SEP variant. Since this description does not specify “Turret Front” as it did for the “Turret Side” armor, it is reasonable to interpret this “Frontal Armor” as including both turret front and hull front upgrades. Only the hull front upgrade will be discussed in this section. The actual protection value for this upgrade is indicated by ADA305301 (page 43), in which a NON-DU Tandem Ceramic Armor (TCA) was developed by BRL in 1995, bringing a 33% improvement over existing passive ceramic armor (BRL-II) against KE threat. This armor is chronologically reliable to be implemented in the M1A2SEP variant fielded in 1999 and the M1A2SEPV2 variant fielded in 2006. AS A RESULT, the two SEP variants in the game should have 455 * 1.33 = 605.15 mm protection against KE threats.
Although no files support developments in hull side armor beyond the Swedish Trial, the hull side protection for Abrams in-game is still largely below the level suggested in the Swedish Trial. It should be 350mm against KE at 30 degrees of heading angle, while it’s only 170mm currently in the game.
TURRET FRONT & SIDE ARMOR:
Proven by the 2006 CBO report (page 3), the M1A2 Abrams received a second-generation depleted uranium armor package for turret armor, known as the HAP-2. This new heavy armor package is developed upon the first-generation DU armor on the M1A1HA and used for the M1A2 and M1A1HC. Official Hearing (Proposed Sales to Saudi Arabia, Hearing before the Committee on Foreign Affairs, pp.63-64) suggests that the depleted uranium armor designed for M1A2 is to stand up to the FST-2, an imaginary future Soviet tank with the capability to penetrate 700mm RHA with kinetic rounds. By this definition, the actual application of the advanced depleted uranium armor on the M1A2 provides at least 700mm protection against KE threats in a ±30 degrees range.
Item No.20, Page 32 of the FY 2001 Budget Estimate introduced an Improved Side Armor (ISA) for the turret as a continuous field modification applicable to all the fielded M1 Abrams tanks, providing a 250% improvement against Shaped Charge threats. This should apply to at least all the M1A2SEP variants in the game, while the ISA modification also involves M1A1 in reality.
Chapter 3-5 of FY 2013 Program Acquisition Costs by Weapon System indicates that the Improved Side Armor has DU implemented, bringing potential improvements against KE by an unknown scale.
VEHICLES AFFECTED:
M1A1, M1A1HC, M1A2: Hull armor increased to 455 mm RHA against sabot rounds
M1A2SEP, M1A2SEPV2: Hull armor increased to 605.15 mm RHA against sabot rounds
ALL M1 VARIANTS: Hull side armor increased to 350mm RHA against sabot rounds at 30 degrees of heading angle
M1A1HC, M1A2, M1A2SEP, M1A2SEPV2: Turret front armor increased to at least 700mm RHA at ±30 degrees heading angle against sabot rounds
M1A2SEP, M1A2SEPV2: Turret side armor protection improves by 250% against shaped charge rounds, with a potential improvement against KE threats
