Dating from 1980, the M1 Abrams tank family lacks some of the flashy features built into tanks of the twenty-first century. But its rugged, reliable General Dynamics Land Systems engineering and consistent upgrades have kept it dominant in every conflict it has faced.
Abrams tanks crippled Iraqi armored formations in the 1991 Battle of 73 Easting, considered the last great tank showdown of the twentieth century. In just 23 minutes, nine American M1A1 Abrams tanks destroyed 50 Iraqi T-72 tanks and dozens more armored vehicles using their long-range firing capabilities to wreak havoc without taking a single casualty.
Abrams tanks also shored up infantry formations during the 2003 assault on Baghdad, and supported patrols to a lesser extent in Afghanistan. Each successive version of the M1 has received additional armor, with the M1A2 SEPv3, introduced in 2020, weighing 13 tons more than the original due to these upgrades.
The newest variant features a turret-mounted, low-profile, common-remote-operated weapons station (LP CROWS) that captures video by day and thermal imaging by night, with automatic target tracking and a laser range finder. The 120mm smoothbore M256 main gun now fires an advanced multipurpose round, developed over 15 years to replace four separate tank munitions. The round can be dispatched to bust a bunker or breach a wall to clear the way for ground troops; or in airburst mode, it can take out anti-tank guided missile teams from as far as 2,000 meters away. As of 2021, all Abrams tanks also feature the same Trophy Active Protection System introduced on the Israeli Merkava Mark IV.
