Because it’s huge and heavy and has a bunch of weird equipment on the turret that makes it stand out and it has no spall liners and a huge turret ring weakspot and no hull armor and no turret armor.
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The M1A2 was able to lose over three tons without getting into the new gun tubes, electric turret, or fiber optics.
Don’t forget larger use of titanium and changes to the engine.
I would expect the M1E3 to get into some of the radical weight reduction technologies proposed for the Abrams Lightweight Tank Variant from the 90s. M1E3 to M1A2 will be like Leclerc SXXI to Leclerc S2. Barely comparable to each other.
Didn’t that one get massacred from a protection point of view?
For the turret, yes.
Hull was A2 level. Turret protection was deemed only needed to resist 30mm AP (no clarification if this is AP, APDS or APFSDS) as the turret crew are all below the turret ring. Sorta like a M1A2 crossed with the Teledyne Expeditionary tank or M1128.