A sharp turn: The US will not upgrade the old Abrams again, but will create a new platform

Instead of continuing the traditional bureaucratic procedure of modernising the M1 Abrams tank, which is almost 40 years old, the US Army decided to drastically change its approach and create a new platform.

Here's What We Know

The Chief of Staff of the Army, General Randy George, has ordered to speed up the process and make more decisive decisions on the creation of a new platform. Alex Miller, the US Army's chief technical officer, told Defence News.

In his opinion, the army has been taking an overly cautious approach to procurement for years, trying to anticipate all risks before launching a new programme. But this process could have taken decades.

Miller directly compared this to the legendary bureaucratic epic surrounding the creation of the Bradley infantry fighting vehicle, satirised in the film Pentagon Wars.

As early as September 2023, the Pentagon decided not to carry out the traditional Abrams upgrade, but to focus on a deeper upgrade of the tank to adapt it to the realities of the modern battlefield. Already in the spring of 2024, the army signed a contract with General Dynamics Land Systems, the manufacturer of the Abrams, to develop a new version of the tank called the M1E3.

Although the technical specifications have not yet been finalised, the army has already declared its priorities to be weight reduction and increased protection.

The development of the M1E3 is expected to be synchronised with the entry into service of the new M30 infantry fighting vehicle, which is due to replace the Bradley in the early 2030s. The two platforms are known to work in conjunction, so their characteristics and deployment timelines are closely linked.

Source: Defence News