General Dynamics Reveals The Abramsx, The US Army's Next-Generation Army Tank

 

SandBoxx: AbramsX tank launches kamikaze drones and goes electric 

The venerable M1 Abrams has been America’s core main battle tank for more than 40 years, thanks to a long series of incremental upgrades that have allowed it to remain one of the world’s most fearsome pieces of armor. 

But as foreign militaries roll out next-generation smart tanks that shoot, move, and communicate on a different plane than their predecessors, General Dynamics is premiering AbramsX: an Abrams for a new era of warfighting. 

A demonstrator version of the tank made its debut on the show floor of the Association of the United States Army’s annual meeting this month. 

Painted in an eye-catching grey-and-black sawtooth color scheme, AbramsX aims to address some of the Army’s longstanding beefs with the M1, while building in cutting-edge technology and protection including AI and drone launchers. 

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WNU Editor: The specs and capabilities on this tank are impressive. 

General Dynamics Reveals The Abramsx, The US Army's Next-Generation Army Tank  

Did General Dynamics Just Make the Abrams Tank Obsolete? -- Sofrep  

The AbramsX Is Ready for High-Speed Warfare -- National Interest  

General Dynamics Reveals Next-Generation Army Tank, Could Replace M1 Abrams -- Zero Hedge The 

Army Got a Peek at the 'AbramsX' Tank, Which Will Weigh Less and Need a Smaller Crew -- Coffee or Die

This Tank Shell Can Destroy Almost Anything

AMP test shot showing effectiveness against a reinforced concrete wall U.S. ARMY 

Forbes: New U.S. Tank Round Can Destroy Almost Anything 

The U.S. Army is acquiring a new multipurpose tank round which can flatten bunkers, pulverize obstacles, breach concrete walls or take our groups of personnel. 

And it can destroy armored and unarmored vehicles and buildings, too. 

The 120mm Advanced Multipurpose Round (AMP) for the Army’s M1 Abrams tank gets its versatility from a smart fusing system which performs differently against different types of target. 

The M829 depleted uranium round, aka ‘the silver bullet,’ may be the anti-tank champion for punching through armor (it'll go through half a meter of steel), but it is a one-trick pony, severely limited against other sorts of target. 

Fired at a truck or a house, it tends to zip right through, doing little damage. 

The new AMP is an all-rounder that can take on anything and everything. 

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Update: M1 Abrams Tank Gets New Round That Can Destroy Almost Anything (Zero Hedge). 

WNU Editor: The perfect weapon for the US Army's upgraded tank .... The Army is going all-in on its souped-up new M1 Abrams tank (Task & Purpose).

Is Britain About To Join France And Germany To Build A 'Eurotank'

The Franco-German joint venture KNDS displayed its new European main battle tank, a precursor to the Main Ground Combat System, at the 2018 Eurosatory exhibit in Paris. (Staff) 

Defense News: British military looks to the ‘Eurotank’ as it weighs its hardware options 

LONDON and COLOGNE, Germany — The British Ministry of Defence has opened discussions with France and Germany about signing up as an observer on their next-generation Main Ground Combat System program, according to government and industry officials in the U.K. and Germany. 

Details of exactly what access the British will get to the program remain unclear, as a possible pact wouldn’t be signed until later this year. 

“Observer status is being granted to the U.K. for the Franco-German Main Ground Combat System program,” an MoD official in London said. 

An industry team involving Krauss-Maffei Wegmann, Nexter and Rheinmetall are in the early conceptual stages of pulling together a vehicle design to replace Germany’s Leopard 2 and France’s Leclerc around 2035. 

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Update #1: Britain, France, and Germany Might Build a Super 'Eurotank' (Popular Mechanics) 

Update #2: Euro-Tank: Is Britain Looking To Join France & Germany’s Advanced ‘Eurotank’ Program? (EurAsian Times) 

WNU Editor: Is there still a need for a main battle tank anymore?

What Will The New U.S. Tank Look Like?

Photo credit: U.S. Army Spc. Dominic Trujillo/DVIDS 

Popular Mechanics: What Will the Army's M1 Abrams Tank Replacement Look Like? 

 * Photos taken at a U.S. Army workshop hold clues to what a replacement for the U.S. Army’s Abrams tank might look like. 

 * Concept photos are blurred, but we can get an idea of the rough shape of the vehicles. 

 * The new Optionally Manned Tank will be able to operate crewed or uncrewed on the future battlefield. 

Several images taken at a U.S. Army workshop show a very rough idea of a possible replacement for the long-serving M1 Abrams tank. The images seem to depict at least three concept tanks, including one behemoth that dwarfs the 70-ton Abrams. The Army plans to make a decision about if and how to replace the Abrams in 2023. 

The event, a three-day workshop, was held in early October at the U.S. Army’s Ground Vehicle Systems Center at Detroit Arsenal. According to the Army, the event paired soldiers “with a team of industrial designers and Subject Matter Experts” to explore topics “from crew size to unmanned and autonomous considerations.” The team also “explored levels of desired lethality, mobility, and survivability applied to a number of concept platforms.” 

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WNU Editor: The uncrewed version is probably the tank of the future.

U.S. Army Planning For A New Tank

File photo - M1A1 Abrams main battle tanks assigned to 3rd Battalion, 67th Armored Regiment, 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division stage prior to a tactical movement during Spartan Focus, at Fort Stewart, Ga. (U.S. Army photo by Spc. Andres Chandler/released)

FOX News/Warrior Maven: Army maps plans for future tank

Army’s family of Next Generation Combat Vehicles is all about speed, maneuverability and expeditionary warfare

Racing over bridges, supporting advancing infantry with suppressive fire, shooting vehicle-launched counter-drone missiles and engaging enemy tanks from safe standoff ranges are all operations the Army anticipates for its new fleet of armored combat vehicles.

A decided emphasis for the Army’s family of Next Generation Combat Vehicles is speed, maneuverability and expeditionary warfare, all key components of the service’s effort to bring supportive fires to advancing infantry, cross bridges, engage in mechanized maneuver warfare and leverage a new generation of sensor technology and drone coordination.

The NGCV effort consists of an interesting mixture of new platforms, to include the fast-emerging Optionally Manned Fighting Vehicle infantry carrier, Robotic Combat Vehicle and some kind of future tank-like platform.

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WNU Editor: The Army wants speed, manoeuvrability, fire-power, advanced sensor technology, drone coordination, and God knows what else in their next tank.

Is Artificial Intelligence The Future Of Tank Warfare?

Concept art for the Textron Ripsaw next-generation combat vehicle prototype. Textron

Defense One: The US Army Wants to Reinvent Tank Warfare with AI

A new project aims to make the battlefield more “transparent” — while relying on robots and software that “think” in unpredictable ways.

Tank warfare isn’t traditionally easy to predict. In July 1943, for instance, German military planners believed that their advance on the Russian city of Kursk would be over in ten days. In fact, that attempt lasted nearly two months and ultimately failed. Even the 2003 Battle of Baghdad, in which U.S. forces had air superiority, took a week. For the wars of the future, that’s too slow. The U.S. Army has launched a new effort, dubbed Project Quarterback, to accelerate tank warfare by synchronizing battlefield data with the aid of artificial Intelligence.

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WNU Editor: AI platforms will be the future of warfare. But there will always be a human component involved.

Russia's New Robot Tank Has Problems

Business Insider: The Russian army has a cool new robot tank, but there's a really good chance it doesn't work

* The Uran-9 unmanned combat ground vehicle has reportedly entered service with the Russian military.
* The revolutionary robotic tank built for fire support and reconnaissance missions performed horribly in combat tests in Syria.
* Leaked Russian reports on the testing indicated that it could be more than 10 years before the technology would be ready.
* The US military has been researching this technology for more than a decade.

A new robotic tank with a disastrous performance history has reportedly entered service with the Russian army, according to multiple reports citing Russian state media.

Armed with anti-tank missiles, a 7.62 mm machine gun, and a 30 mm automatic cannon, the Uran-9 unmanned ground combat vehicle was designed for advanced fire support and reconnaissance missions over a 2-mile range.

But as of last summer, the revolutionary new weapon was still a very long way from being combat ready, according to Defence Blog, an online military magazine.

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WNU Editor: From what I have read so far in Russian military social forums. This tank is a dud.

France And Germany Want To Build A Tank Together

Rheinmetall's 130mm tank gun. Note the difference in the size of the ammunition, at left, compared to a standard 120mm round. Rheinmetall

Warzone/The Drive: France Tests Huge 140mm Tank Gun As It Pushes Ahead With Germany On A New Tank Design

The Germans are also working on a 130mm cannon that might be another option for the future Franco-German tank.

French defense contractor Nexter has reportedly been testing a modified Leclerc main battle tank with a massive 140mm main gun as part of the development of a future Franco-German tank, known as the Main Ground Combat System, or MGCS. For decades, France, as well as Germany, among many others, have considered adding bigger cannons to its tanks to improve their armor penetration and range capabilities, but have repeatedly decided not to do so. So, it still remains to be seen how seriously they’ll pursue this course of action now.

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WNU Editor: A 140mm tank gun is quite big.

The U.S. Army's Search For A Light Tank Is Down To Two Designs

BAE Systems Mobile Protected Firepower Courtesy of BAE Systems

DoD Buzz/Military.com: Army Taps Two Firms to Build Light Tank Prototypes for the Infantry

The U.S. Army awarded contracts Monday to two defense firms to build prototypes of a new lightweight tank to give infantry units the firepower to destroy hardened enemy targets.

The service awarded General Dynamics Land Systems Inc. and BAE Systems Land & Armaments LP with what's known as Middle Tier Acquisition (Section 804) contracts worth up to $376 million each to produce prototypes of the Mobile Protected Firepower (MPF) system.

The two companies will build 12 prototypes each and begin delivering them to the Army in about 14 months so testing can begin in spring 2020. The goal is to down-select to a winner by fiscal 2022 and begin fielding the first of 504 of these lightweight tanks sometime in fiscal 2025.

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More News On The U.S. Army's Search For A Light Tank

Army picks two companies to build prototypes for a new cannon-toting vehicle to back up infantry -- Army Times
The Army's Search For Its First Light Tank In Decades Is Down To These Two Designs -- The Drive
The US Army wants a new light tank powerful enough to shatter the defenses of a formidable adversary — here's what it might look like -- Business Insider
US Army Narrows Search For Light Tank to Two Companies -- Defense One

The U.S. Army Wants A Better Protection For Its Tanks

U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Ason Forsyth

WNU Editor: Two articles that outlines how the U.S. Army wants to better protect its tanks ....

The Army Wants This Modular, Universal System To Shield Its Armor From Rockets And Missiles -- The Warzone/The Drive

The Modular Active Protection System will be able to run multiple types of protection systems and could pave the way for networked defenses.

The U.S. Army has hired Lockheed Martin to continue development of a universal control system that will be able to run current and future active protection systems to defend a variety of vehicles. The goal of the Modular Active Protection Systems program, or MAPS, is to craft a common system that can rapidly accept upgrades in response to emerging threats, and could open up the possibility for a networked arrangement that links systems on multiple platforms.

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The United States' Next Tank Could Be Protected by 'Steel Foam' -- Popular Mechanics

The composite material offers dramatic weight savings and increased protection from shock, fires.

Researchers have discovered that composite metal foam offers greater protection than traditional armor steel plate at a third of the weight. The discovery has broad implications for armored vehicles, and could result in stronger, lighter vehicles better able to protect occupants from the impact of kinetic weapons, explosive shockwaves, and fires.

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It Looks Like The Vaunted German Leopard 2 Tank Has Some Shortcomings

ISIS claimed it destroyed 10 of the Leopard 2 tanks, dubbed invincible in some quarters, and while the terror group's estimates are regularly exaggerated, analysis of fighting around al-Bab in Syria puts the figure at 'at least eight'. Pictured: The remnants of one of the German-built tanks as shown in a January 20, 2017 Isis video recorded near al-Bab. It was reportedly blown up by a mine. In the background is a destroyed Kobra armoured personnel carrier

Daily Mail: The £4million German tank dubbed 'one of the best in the world' is shown up in Syria: Leopard 2 bought by Turkey to fight British-backed Kurds has numerous faults exposed in lethal fashion

* The German government has come under domestic pressure after images showed Turkey deploying the tanks
* From the late 1970s to today, more than 3,000 of the tanks have been built at a cost of around £4million a unit
* Turkey bought 354 of them, and has started using them to fight Kurdish fighters in cities in northern Syria
* But they are proving to be ineffective, with the tanks being picked off by allied forces as they are sent in alone

A German-made tank, which Berlin once dubbed one of the best in the world, has had its shortcomings embarrassingly exposed on the battlefield in Syria.

Photos from the Turkish military operation dubbed 'Euphrates Shield', which began in August 2016, show the charred remains of one of the Leopard 2 tanks which was reportedly blown up with mines.

The images - taken from an ISIS video published in January 2017 - show the tank with its turret completely blown off.

Other pictures from the same conflict show Leopard 2s standing idle in ditches and snow after being severely damaged.

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WNU Editor:  I guess the Leopard 2 is .... in the end .... not invincible.

The U.S. Army Wants A New Light Tank

The M551 Sheridan tank firing a Shillelagh missile. (Photo by U.S. Army)

We Are The Might: The Army wants a new light tank to fill gaps on the battlefield

The United States Army is on the hunt for what they call, “Mobile Protected Firepower” — or, to put it in layman’s terms, the Army wants a light tank. For military buffs, this shouldn’t come as a surprise. There’s been a big gap in capabilities since the M551 Sheridan was retired in 1996.

According to a report by the Army Times, the Army is now looking to rectify that gap in capabilities. The M1A2 Abrams tank brings tons of firepower and armored protection, but it can’t be dropped. You need a C-5 or C-17 to bring it to an airfield, and then it has to drive to the battlefield. Not good when you need the firepower right away.

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Update: New in 2018: Army looks to add a light tank to its formations (Army Times)

WNU Editor: I guess the Pentagon planners have concluded that future conflicts will be needing a rapid reaction force where tanks can be dropped near (or at) a conflict zone.

China Testing A New-Type Of Light Main Battle Tank

Franz-Stefan Gady, The Diplomat: China Tests New Tank in Tibet

A new Chinese light main battle tank has purportedly been tested on the Tibetan Plateau.

The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has tested a new tank on the Tibetan Plateau in western China, the Chinese Ministry of Defense announced on June 29.

“Recently, a new-type of tank has undertaken trials on the Tibet Plateau. The trials were aimed to test the tank’s performance and are not targeted at any country,” PLA spokesman Colonel Wu Qian said during a regular press briefing at the Ministry of Defense (MoD) on June 29.

The statement came in response to a (prepared) question about U.S. media reports of a new-type of 35-ton light main battle tank (MBT) that was seen during a recent military exercise conducted by a mechanized infantry brigade of PLA Tibet Military Command on the Tibet Plateau.

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Update: China confirms conducting trials of new light battle tank in Tibet (Jane`s 360)

WNU Editor: India believes this tank is primarily directed at them .... China tests new tanks on Tibet plateau with an eye on India (Hindustan Times).

The Next U.S. Super Tank May Have An Electrothermal Chemical Gun

Next Big Future: Plans for a new US super tank with an electrothermal chemical gun

The Army cancelled a future Ground Combat Vehicle but, some of the innovations, technologies and weapons systems may get into a new tank design. Design specs, engineering, weapons and other innovations envisioned for the GCV are now being analyzed for the new tank. In particular, the new tank may use an emerging 30mm cannon weapon planned for the GCV – the ATK-built XM813. XM813 is computer-controlled and electronically driven weapon can fire up to 200 rounds per minute, uses a dual-recoil firing system and a semi-closed bolt firing mode. The new tank will emerge after the Army first fields its M1A2 SEP v4 upgraded Abrams tank in the 2020s

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WNU Editor: A look at what may be the future when it comes to firepower.