The package also incorporates better communications and networking capabilities and offers crews improved displays and interfaces that will improve their situational awareness.Īlso on offer with the package are lethality and survivability enhancements. The M1A2 SEPv3 addresses space, weight, and power issues that had become apparent during Operation Iraqi Freedom, and offers significantly improved power generation and distribution. GLDS was also awarded contracts for the upgrading of older M1A1 main battle tanks to the M1A2 SEPv3 configuration. In 2015, the Army awarded GLDS the contract to begin production of the M1A2 SEPv3, with the initial production vehicle delivered to the Army in 2017. M1A1/2 Abrams main battle tanks are equipped with the 120mm M256 smoothbore gun, capable of firing a variety of munitions including the M8300 HEAT-MP-T and M829 APFSDS-T rounds. The M1A2, meanwhile, is powered by a Honeywell LV100-5 gas turbine engine that is both lighter and smaller than the older engine while offering rapid acceleration, and also runs quieter and produces no visible exhaust. The M1 is powered by a Honeywell AGT 1500 gas turbine engine, while its Allison X-1100-3B transmission provides it with four forward and two reverse gears.

In 1986, production began on the M1A2, and between 19 roughly 600 M1 tanks were upgraded to the M1A2 configuration.

A total of 3,273 M1 Abrams tanks were produced for the Army, and a total of 4,796 M1A1 tanks were produced for the Army (along with 221 for the United States Marine Corps). The original M1 Abrams entered into production in 1978 and was first delivered to the United States Army in 1980, while production of the M1A1 Abrams began in 1985.

The M1A1/2 Abrams main battle tank is manufactured by General Dynamics Land Systems (GLDS). The M1 Abrams: Like Fine Wine, It Keeps Getting Better?

The M1A2 SEPv3 – also known as the M1A2C – is the result of the Army’s most recent effort to outfit its main battle tanks with the most up-to-date enhancements available to it. Over the years the Army has undertaken consistent efforts to upgrade and modernize its inventory of Abrams tanks to ensure that they remain at the forefront of the world’s armored forces, including through the introduction of a series of system enhancement packages (SEPs). The M1A1/2 Abrams main battle tank has served as the core of the Army’s armored force for decades.

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