US MBT

beavan SG

erm read somewhere in this forums that USA is going to decommission their abrams? is it true?

ditzy SG

Then what are they gonna use? AMX-13s? Very Happy

beavan SG

i dun know,that’s why i’m questioning if its fake or not..

spencer99 SG

I don't know of which specific report you are referring to.

There are budget constraints in the US military. Also they are re-structuring their deployement and structure to better suit the new security enviornment and to better deploy newer technology.

The M1 is predominantly designed to combat the Soviet Armoured threat in Central Europe. That threat is gone. and suitable terrain/threat to deploye the M1 is no longer present.

In addition, the US is trying to me more "deployable" and M1s are heavy and difficult to transport quickly.

With a reduction in force size (budget cut) and a shift towards "lighter" forces. it is not surprising that some M1s will be "redundant".

But I would expect it to soldier on for some time as there is probably still a need for a heavy armoured "fist" and there is unlikely be a replacement as probably funding for armour will probably be hard to come by as the buzz words are networks, precision weaponary and special forces.

esesce SG

Discovery Channel had a documentary & claims US army is developing a new type of MBT which is air transportable. Dunno how true lah but I can’t imagine it lor. If they really want to be more mobile, I guess tank killers such as Terrex or Piranha are the best choice since they are wheeled.

kingkhong79 SG

Yeah some stupid people in the US Army were talking about replacing the Abrams with the wheeled Strykers that are now being deployed in Iraq.But that is talk only because no US soldier dares to man an iraqi checkpoint unless he is inside an Abrams-the most bombproof vehicle in the US army inventory.

SlowPoke SG

even the mighty M1A2 Abrams is not bombproof, several have been destroyed in Iraq by huge IEDs (Improvised Explosive Devices aka roadside bombs).

gary1910 SG

Nah, US is not going to replace the M1 MBT, in fact they are part of the FCS network.

The MBT will only replace by a lighter AFV only when it could provide the same firepower as well as protection as the M1, today technology, that is still not possible.

Some heavy div will converted to lighter div but the M1 will be around for at least the next 25 years!!!

For more info , pls read the link:

http://www.nationaldefensemagazine.org/article.cfm?Id=1639

beavan SG

yea but they must be pretty huge bombs as what u said..

beavan SG

"We can all thank General Shinseki and his boss Bill Clinton for implementing their radical and insane plan to abolish all of our excellent M-1 Abrams tanks and all other tracked vehicles from the Army by 2012 and replace them with armored cars, which are lightly armed and armored. If this plan is implemented by a President Bush-Gore as I suspect then the Russian tanks will essentially and most ominously be impervious to US anti-tank fire. "

quoted from the other thread..

is this true? Confused

deathscythe99 SG

Heard about it leh...

But think it is the Strykers they are talking about ba...

storywolf SG

it call the M8 Buford tank. suppose to be for use for the 82nd airborne, project got cancel due to cancel budget, 3 existing prototype is pass to 82nd airborne.
The 82nd airbourne was provide by anti-tank missile instead.

http://www.military.com/soldiertech/0,14632,Soldiertech_Buford,,00.html

ditzy SG

Its an armoured gun system. Its light enough to air drop. Very Happy

storywolf SG

yes it is true, the decision came during Bill Clinton days. When some so call military experts decide the new generation war is depend on rapid deployment. They feel that M1 is too heavy and they are going for light armed armoured vehicles instead which is air-deployable and smaller easiler to shipped, travel faster and use less fuels.

However this does not mean the end of M1, yes the end of the production line, but existing M1 will be hand down to Marines or the national guards. Well soon one day US will get their butt kick and they will scramble to bring those M1 back to frontline service in a hurry again.

beavan SG

lets hope that it never happens….i wldn’t like to see wars cropping up here and there..