I wonder what they are firing at the M1 to test the Armour currently. It has to be far in excess of the latest and greatest form Russia presumably.
Of course, we possible have an issue there. We are presuming that the M1 is even designed to go into battle with another major Nation now. It’s changed from my Late Cold war era. Be interested in the Armour testing stage. I know how it used to be done but it was a long time ago.
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Well, considering they are being tailored for Poland and Taiwan in export variants, I’d imagine they assume the possibility of them fighting potential opposing armor from threat nations.
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But even the Brits are making changes to the Chally. Do you think the MoD is going to ever try producing more tanks, or do you think they will acquire them from abroad? Do you think Britain will even try to grow its tank fleet again?
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I would expect the M829A3/4 and the latest TOW and Hellfire.
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That is a very good question and quite a big one a couple of years ago. Much noise was made about the fact UK tanks had to be home grown. Odd because very little else seems to be and there was suggestion of an outcry over buying the M1 over developing a homegrown Chally 3.
The UK army is dwindling at an alarming rate and many of the development centers are long gone.
We had RSRE in my town which was where night vison was basically invented for the UK and tanks were prepped for foreign sales or battle. All gone now it’s a housing estate.
Trouble is “New” has many meanings when it comes to the UK and industry.
I can see the UK Government buying the M1 citing development costs and value for money to the public.
Big issue is where abouts in the M1 can you fit a boiling vessel?
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nah leo would be more likely
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I would have thought so as a tank man but the Brits being what they are, Could the UK Government get away with a German tank for the British Army? Banging on about WW2 is a national pastime still.
It’s going to need some external stowage. Brits like to carry their clobber :)
Might also be easier to get tanks from the EU. Logistics wise. Less distances, parts and experts are closer.
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I totally agree but this is the country that voted to leave the EU, cutting all its links with its trading partners over a false sense of jingoism.
The USA still have a very romantic place in the hearts of many of the Tory voters in the UK. The two world wars and one world cup mentality still very strong. Sounds like we are drifting off topic but believe me we are not, this really could be the reason for not going to Europe for the new MBT even if we should.
The work around might be building a foreign tank here under license…and fitting a boiling vessel.
some British opinions about Abrams
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Yes I have read that and its interesting stuff. It’s an argument that has come before the chally 1 and 2 as well.
In actual fact back in my day they lent an M1 to be evaluated by the British Army (only for two days though I believe) about 1989 or 90.
Im struggling to remember the outcomes exactly, think easy access to the batteries was mentioned and the fact they were together. Superb gun sighting, aiming and firing was liked. Ease of operation was mentioned, like you could train a monkey to use an M1. Superb ease of mechanics and the fact they were found to be quite quiet inside and had nice seats.
I think the whines were lack of stowage inside and outside (surprisingly) a hand throttle as opposed to a peddle, mud collecting at the back and possibly throwing tracks and of course no boiling vessel. Open to correction there. Can’t remember what else. Long time ago.
I don’t think the Army themselves would have an issue with the M1 with a few changes.
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I find this a little funny since I was reading through rough translations from the Greek trials. Apparently the Greek tank commander managed to hurt himself in the M1 on one of the mobility courses, so that was the reason an American crew took over. Not sure if it was a language barrier issue, but I guess the Greeks didn’t find the Abrams intuitive? That or the commander just made a really big goof at the exact wrong time.
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,The M1A2 Abrams was the second best in terms of armor. The Americans offered the export version of the armor and not the “heavy” DU (Depleted Uranium) that they used on a number of their own tanks. It turned out to be particularly apt, with excellent ergonomics and user-friendliness, areas where the Americans traditionally excel. It also turned out to be particularly robust and reliable with the only serious drawback being the high consumption of its turbo engine."
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The good ending
Well, this test had T-80U and T-84, right? So Abrams should have better protection than them, even with the nerfed non-DU armor. I guess the Swedish armor package was REALLY behind the DU and Greek/Turkish export armor packages. But Gaijin won’t account for this.
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