Oh the entire wiring system being replaced to make it lighter not to mention the hydraulic system for the turret drives being replaced with eletric drives, alot of the road wheels replaced with aluminum wheels to save weight, etc etc but hey lets only focus on WEIGHT to say no armor was added since the 80s even though new materials have been made that are somewhat stronger and lighter. Yes im ranting but at the same time WEIGHT is a horrible explanation for Gajin to make this argument.
Okay I feel like I need to correct some things, since it was 4:00 in the morning and I might have typed some stuff wrong causing a miscommunication:
I said the Abrams is one of the best top tier MBTs, imo the 2A7s/122s are still better.
I didn’t mean to say that the SEPv3 should remain unchanged. I meant to say that even IF Gaijin decided to leave it unchanged, the Abrams would still be one of the best top tier MBTs.
The player who constantly praises the U.S. tech tree actually has a higher win rate in Russian MBTs than in the American Abrams tanks he constantly praises.
1- I am aware they were talking about Leopards. What about my response makes it feel like I thought they were talking about anything else?
2- Vehicles being changed between the WIP iterations of a Dev Server and the Live Release is not a “SEPv3 exclusive” thing.
3- This is a topic about M1A2 SEPv3. It was never the time or the place to make it about Leopards, yet you claim that “American players have victim complex” while you’ve got German mains here hijacking our thread to whine about their unpennable 670mm KE hulls not being even more unpennable 800mm KE hulls, but oh, God forbids America gets a single Abrams with more than 355 miserable mm KE on the hull. Really?
Subsequent modernizations of the armor and optoelectronic equipment, starting from the M1A1 Abrams version through the A1A2, were as follows:
M1A1HA (Heavy Armor): Added first-generation depleted uranium armor. Some M1A1HAs were later upgraded with second-generation depleted uranium armor and were unofficially designated M1A1HA+.
M1A1HC (Heavy Common): Replacement of first-generation uranium armor elements with second-generation ones.
M1A1D (Digital): Upgrade of M1A1HC digital equipment to M1A2 SEP standard.
M1A1 AIMv1 (Abrams Integrated Management): modernization consisting in equipping the tanks with infrared sensors (FLIR) and new communication equipment: FBCB2, Blue Hyperlink.
M1A1 AIMv2/M1A1 SA (Situational Awareness): depleted uranium armor upgrade (replacing the armor with its 3rd generation).
M1A1 FEP (Firepower Enhancement Package): modernization to the AIMv2 standard for USMC tanks (future Polish used 116 units).
M1A2: modernization consisting in the installation of an independent commander’s thermal imaging sight.
M1A2 SEP (System Enhanced Package): equipping the vehicles with a new second-generation gunner’s thermal sight and improved third-generation depleted uranium armor.
M1A2 SEPv2 (26 used, loaned for training Polish tank crews): retrofitting the vehicles with frontal and side ERA armor (TUSK set), new liquid crystal displays with higher resolution, improved, more efficient data buses.
M1A2 SEPv3 (250 newly purchased vehicles for Poland): modernized Vehicle Health Management System (VHMS) with a new Ammunition Data Link (ADL), installation of an improved IED armor package, improved FLIR (using long and medium wave infrared), CROWS system (unmanned, armed turret), integral auxiliary power unit (APU). Thickened armor for increased resistance against kinetic projectiles with mounts for reactive armor (Abrams Reactive Armor Tile (ARAT).
M1A2 SEPv4: modernization in the current final stage of development, consisting of replacing the commander’s thermal sight and the aiming sight (in the third generation FLIR standard associated with a new laser rangefinder, advanced meteorological sensor, laser friend-or-foe receiver, radiation detection sensor integrated with directional smoke grenade launchers).
Equivalent M1A2 armor thicknesses calculated taking into account the slope and inclination of the armor made of homogeneous armor steel plates:
turret front: 960 mm,
gun mantlet: 380-400 mm,
turret sides: 350-400 mm,
tower ceiling: 70-40 mm,
turret rear: 58-40 mm,
hull front (80 mm upper armor plate inclined at 80°): 680 mm,
front of the hull (bottom plate): 550-650 mm,
hull sides (2/3 of the upper surface): 80 mm,
hull sides (1/3 lower surface): 50 mm,
side ballistic skirts: 70 mm,
rear of the hull: 58-40 mm,
hull bottom: 40 mm.
Additional protection of the fighting compartment is achieved by installing TUSK I/TUSK II (Tank Urban Survivability System) covers in the form of M19 ARAT-1 reactive armor on the hull sides or by installing M19 dynamic covers and M32 ARAT-2 covers mounted on them on the hull sides and the M32s themselves on the turret sides.
Oh my God. How did you manage to hide this gem? Finally, we have at least some data on Abrams armor. What’s funny is that the values for the turret cheeks and turret sides almost match the data from War Thunder. Has anyone already submitted a bug report based on this material?
But we are interested in the value of the armor resistance according to the rolled steel thickness equivalent (RHAe). Official data is not available, but according to Glenn Giron, who served in the Abrams tank, the plain thickness of the beveled frontal armor of the Abrams tank turret is 1025 to 1125 mm.
The estimated resistance of the turret front of the M1A2B (M1A2 SEPv2) Abrams tank (with depleted uranium) against APFSDS ammunition is estimated to be around 1000 mm RHAe, with Giron suggesting that it is at least 1025 to 1125 mm. In contrast, the resistance of the turret front against HEAT rounds is estimated to be between 1320 and 2000 mm RHAe.
he front of the Abrams tank hull has much less resistance, with estimates of 580 mm to 700 mm RHAe against APFSDS rounds, and up to 900 mm RHAe against HEAT rounds.
The issue is they never addressed DU for SEP V3; they commented on DU, but not in relation to SEP V3.
They however stated a buff to the hull armor, which depending on how much it is, & if the x-ray changes, will show if they considered DU or not.
X-ray doesn’t change + buff = DU.
X-ray changes + buff = depends on the thickness gained.