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Automatic guns and hybrid drive: the Abrams X is the new generation of US main battle tanks
Screenshot from the presentation video
© General Dynamics Land Systems / PR
The US Army also needs a new battle tank to replace the Cold War models. The Abrams X can be that – plus it ends the massive obesity of the current Abrams tank.
The armaments company General Dynamics Land Systems has allowed a preview of the new Abrams X in a video. The US Army’s future battle tank. This is not a series model or a prototype, but a demonstrator. Such a life-size metal model shows where the journey is going and is far more than a rendering or a model for the exhibition stand.
Tanks of a new generation
On top of the turret, the Abrams X carries a remote-controlled weapon station, as you would expect. However, this is not equipped with a heavy machine gun, but with an automatic 30 mm cannon. The tank can thus engage numerous targets without using the main weapon. The main weapon, on the other hand, remains at the 120-millimeter caliber. This is surprising, since the trend at Rheinmetall, for example, is towards significantly larger calibres. The new 120 mm gun should be significantly lighter than its predecessor. The main gun is also operated fully automatically and can therefore be spatially separated from the crew. The soldiers can then be accommodated in a specially protected survival room.
hybrid drive
The crew should be reduced to three men – it is unclear whether there is room in the room for a fourth man for special tasks such as drone operations. From a technical point of view, the hybrid drive of the Abrams X is the most exciting. The additional electric drive should result in 50 percent less fuel consumption. This is made possible by recovering energy when braking. The entire combustion engine can be significantly smaller if the electric drive gets involved as soon as peak performance is required. But the era of the turbine ends in the Abrams. The Cummins Diesel (Advanced Combat Engine) is probably used as the combustion engine, the scalable machine was developed for integration into hybrid drive systems.
Other advantages: The tank remains fully operational even if the combustion engine is not working. It is not necessary to let the engine idle. In addition, the tank can drive quite silently without engine noise, at least for a short time. The angular and projecting tower consists of add-on modules from other systems on the outside. The protected structure is far smaller.
Lighter than its predecessor
Today’s Abrams M1A2 weighs 73 tons. These heavy vehicles are a logistical nightmare. Many bridges are not designed for such loads, especially since the weight of a truck transporting the tank is added on the march. The Abrams X should therefore be significantly lighter. The data system Katalyst is also completely new. It is the tank’s central data network and connects all systems together. It is more open than its predecessors and can be changed more quickly and integrate new subsystems more easily.
The Abrams X is a new generation main battle tank, like the M14 Armata from Russia. The performance of a data system like Katalyst can hardly be judged from the outside. But the fully automated turret and the physical separation of the crew and the main gun and its ammunition are key features of the next generation.
Since the control in such a tank is done solely via the sensors, such models can in principle be further developed into drones or fully automated robots.