M 1 tank is 9.77m long, 3.65m wide and 2.4m high. It is the first standard tank with gas turbine as the main power in the world, with excellent off-road speed and acceleration performance, and the top speed can reach 72 kilometers per hour.
The M 1 tank has an excellent bulletproof appearance, and the front part is equipped with advanced Chobham armor. 165438+M 1A 1 put into production in June, 1988, the front of the car body is equipped with depleted uranium armor, and its strength is five times that of the original one.
In terms of weapons and equipment, the basic main gun of M 1 is 1 105 mm rifle, which can fire not only standard artillery shells, but also armor-piercing projectiles with tails and depleted uranium cores. In terms of fire control, the tank adopts the command ceremony digital tank fire control system, which enables the tank to shoot fixed targets and moving targets while moving.
The main feature of M 1A 1 main battle tank is that it is equipped with 1 120mm smoothbore gun, and its protection ability is much stronger than that of the basic M 1. There are many improvement projects for M 1A2 main battle tank. Compared with M 1 and M 1A 1, its outstanding advantages come from its digital vehicle electronic system. Up to now, M 1A2 has participated in all the "advanced combat experiments" conducted by the US Army to realize digitalization, and is considered as the "pioneer" of the US Army's digitalization forces.
American M 1 series main battle tanks are known as the "king of land warfare" and are masterpieces of tank technology in the 20th century. They experienced the baptism of 199 1 the first battle of the Gulf War. In this war, about 2,000 Soviet-made T-55, T-62 and T -72 tanks of the Iraqi army were destroyed, while only 18 main battle tanks were damaged. Of course, the 2,000 tanks destroyed were attributed to attack aircraft and helicopters, but mainly M 1 series main battle tanks.
After most of the destroyed Iraqi tanks were shot, the ammunition in the car detonated, destroying the equipment in the car and injuring the passengers in the car. In severe cases, the turret was lifted and the car was destroyed.
In contrast, the American M 1 main battle tank is not so "tragic" because a series of design concepts to improve the survivability of the tank, such as the pressure plate of the bomb bay and the design of the carriage, have played a role. At the same time, the excellent fire control system of M 1 main battle tank brings the advantages of long-range attack and night fighting ability, which is also an important reason for the overwhelming victory of American tanks in this tank-to-tank war. In addition, the survivability of M 1 main battle tanks is much higher than that of Soviet tanks in Iraq. So it can be said that this is actually a contest with great disparity in strength.
However, M 1 main battle tank also exposed many problems in the Gulf War. The main problems are as follows: in desert areas, the raised dust blocks the air filter of the engine and reduces the service life of the engine; The fuel consumption of gas turbines is so high that it is difficult to replenish fuel. For these problems, the US military successfully solved them by adopting a new air filtration system (pulse ejector air filtration system) and improving the logistics support system.
The Gulf War made the US military full of confidence in the combat capability of the M 1 series main battle tanks. It is under this confidence that the M 1 series main battle tanks of the US army participated in the Iraq war in 2003.
Show your talent again in the Iraq war.
Before the outbreak of the Iraq war, the US military conscientiously summed up the experience and lessons of the Gulf War, collected long-term intelligence information, and arrived in Iraq after full argumentation, argumentation, preparation and troop deployment.
On March 20, 2003, before dawn, the US military marched straight in, crossed the border between Kuwait and Iraq, and conducted a 450-kilometer long-range mobile operation against Baghdad. On April 7, the Iraqi army was completely annihilated when Baghdad was fully occupied. Because the main equipment of the Iraqi army was almost exhausted in the Gulf War, the US military 17 mobile operations won easily without much resistance.
In this war, the US military has 874 M 1 series main battle tanks. They are: 208 M 1A 1 main battle tanks in the 3rd Infantry Division; The 4th Infantry Division118m1A2SEP main battle tanks, 90 M 1A 1D main battle tanks and 45 M 1A 1 main battle tanks; 1 armored division 258 M 1A 1 main battle tanks; The 3rd armored cavalry regiment 129 M 1A2 main battle tank and 26 M 1A 1 reserve tanks.
According to the US report, only nine M 1 series main battle tanks were damaged in the Iraq war. Except that 1 M 1A 1 the main battle tank accidentally fell into the Tigris River, causing casualties, no other occupants of the damaged tank died. The specific situation of nine damaged tanks is that three tanks were hit by RPG anti-tank rocket launchers from the weak armor at the back of the car body, and the tanks lost their maneuverability; 1 After the vehicle was hit by an RPG anti-tank rocket launcher, the hydraulic system inside the vehicle caught fire, causing damage to the vehicle; Two cars were shot by friendly forces by mistake, of which 1 car was hit behind the turret and the ammunition exploded. However, because the turret was separated and the ammunition compartment was equipped with pressure plates, the occupants were not injured and the vehicle could still maneuver after the fire was extinguished. 1 turret, when the articles carried outside the turret burn, the flame enters the engine room, causing the engine room to catch fire; Two cars got bogged down and lost their mobility. In order to prevent them from falling into the enemy's hands, the US military blew up the vehicles by itself.
Because Iraqi armored forces suffered heavy losses in the Gulf War of 199 1, there was little chance to show the advanced operational performance of American-made M 1 series main battle tanks in this war. However, after the end of large-scale operations, the US military was somewhat at a loss about the frequent suicide attacks on tanks by anti-American guerrillas, RPG and anti-tank rocket launchers. On April 28th, 2003, two M 1A2SEP main battle tanks were blown to pieces while performing patrol duty, and the entire turret fell to the ground in front of the vehicle, killing all the occupants in the vehicle, causing extreme panic of the US military. People have different opinions about this serious injury, but the US Army kept its mouth shut and did not give any explanation for this incident. On August 28th, 2003, the US Army 1 M 1 tank was hit by an RPG-7VR anti-tank rocket which was said to be the latest type, penetrating the side skirts and side armour, but no casualties were caused. Although these are small-scale anti-American guerrilla warfare, it is a problem that the US military must constantly think and pay attention to constantly improving the M 1 series main battle tanks to meet the needs of anti-terrorism operations.
Improve M 1 tank to meet the needs of anti-terrorism operations.
On May 1 2003, the US military announced the end of large-scale fighting and Iraq began to enter the post-war reconstruction stage.
In February, 65438, American troops arrested Saddam Hussien, thinking that they could sit back and relax, sing a triumphant song and send their troops home. However, the subsequent attacks on the US military, terrorist incidents and hostage incidents ..... all broke the dream of the US military, and the US military fell into the quagmire of Iraq.
At first, the US military tried to use M 1 13 armored transport vehicle and M2 "bradley" infantry fighting vehicle to deal with these terrorist attacks, but the effect was not good. Later, the newly built "Stryker" wheeled armored fighting vehicle was put into use, which was also half the effort.
The U.S. military began to understand that these light armored vehicles were very vulnerable to anti-tank weapons, including RPG anti-tank rocket launchers. Therefore, we began to consider improving the protection capability of M 1 series main battle tanks, so that they can have certain anti-terrorism combat capability and open up a new situation in anti-terrorism operations.
The improvement of the M 1 series main battle tanks was carried out by the Fort Knox Armored School and the Armored Research Laboratory of the Tank Motor Vehicle Command, with the participation of technicians from the US Army's frontline armored units in Iraq. With the participation of front-line technicians, the improvement of M 1 series main battle tanks will certainly meet the needs of actual combat.
In Iraq, RPG anti-tank rockets are the biggest threat to M 1 series main battle tanks, so it is necessary to strengthen the protection of the weak parts of M 1 series main battle tanks. Install corrugated additional armor plates similar to those installed on Israeli M 1 13 armored vehicles on the turret and car body side to weaken the penetration of RPG anti-tank rocket shaped charge jet; At the louver of the engine, a metal grille protection net recently adopted by stryker is installed to prevent RPG rockets from directly attacking the power cabin; A special armor plate was added to the upper part of the turret to resist the attack from the top. At the same time, on the basis of the original two groups, two groups of smoke bomb launchers were added to the side and back of the turret, totaling six groups. In order to prevent enemy guerrillas from approaching the tank, Cremeaux mines were installed on both sides of the car body to induce explosion. In order to solve the problem of short range and slow rotation of the 7.62mm parallel machine gun, a 1 remote control machine gun with a range of12.7mm was newly installed above the main gun shield, with a range of left and right 18 degrees. When shooting the12.7mm and 7.62mm machine guns on the turret, it is very dangerous for the occupants to lean out their upper body. Therefore, a baffle made of bulletproof glass was installed in front of the shooter to ensure the safety of the occupants. Install periscope above the turret so that the crew can observe and understand the external situation under the protection of armor. Digital TV cameras are added to the tank sighting system in front, back, left and right of the car body for monitoring, which is convenient for passengers to find the movements of enemy soldiers and the launching point of RPG as soon as possible when performing tasks in complex towns and alleys. In urban areas, people sometimes suffer from sudden attacks from buildings, trees and other dark places. In order to find them as early as possible, audio detectors are installed in the front and rear of the vehicle.
In the Iraq war, the huge logistics demand of M 1 series main battle tanks seems to be never met, especially the fuel supply of AGT- 1500 gas turbine is even more annoying to the US military. AGT- 1500 gas turbine is an American product in 1970s. Its technology has fallen behind, which not only leads to high fuel consumption, but also increases spare parts and maintenance costs. Cummings stopped the production of this engine on 1992. Therefore, in addition to the improvement plan to extend the service life of the existing AGT- 1500 gas turbine (after improvement, the reliability of the AGT- 1500 gas turbine is improved by 30% and the logistics maintenance cost is greatly reduced), the US Army is still choosing a new power system for the M 1 series main battle tanks. The standard of the US Army is that the new engine has 42% fewer parts, 35% lower fuel consumption and 3~5 times higher reliability than AGT- 1500. After screening, the US Army finally chose the LV 100-5 gas turbine of United Signal Aerospace Company. The maximum output power of this engine is 65,438+0,540 horsepower. Compared with AGT-65,438+0,500 gas turbine, it has smaller volume, lighter weight, faster acceleration, higher reliability, lower fuel consumption and convenient use and maintenance. However, replacing a new engine requires a lot of financial support, so it is not clear whether to completely replace the AGT- 1500 gas turbine of M 1 series.
Abrams tank has experienced the development stages of M 1, m 1a 1 a2, M 1A2SEP in recent 20 years since it came out.
M 1A2 is the most important modification of American M 1 series main battle tanks. M 1 tank is the third generation main battle tank developed by the United States in the early 1970s. It was mainly used to replace the M60 tank which was widely used at that time. M 1 formerly known as XM 1, 1979. In May, the US Army trial-produced XM 1 tank, 1 10 and 65438. The production plan of M 1 tank ended in February 1985, and about 2,370 vehicles were manufactured. Later, the improved M 1A 1 tank was produced. The main difference between the two tanks is that M 1A 1 is equipped with a more powerful 120mm smoothbore gun. M 1A 1 was finalized in August 1984, and was officially equipped with troops in July 1986, with a production capacity of more than 4,000 vehicles. 199 1 before the Gulf War, M 1A 1AH with depleted uranium armor was developed, which performed well in the Gulf War. 1985 In February, the US Army began to develop a more advanced M 1A2 based on it, which mainly improved the reliability and performance of vehicle-mounted electronic equipment and added a vehicle-mounted information system named M 1A2. The first M 1A2 was delivered on 1992, and the troops were equipped on 1993. The performance of the improved M 1A2 is much better than that of the original M 1A 1. 1995, based on M 1A2, an improved M 1A2 SEP was developed, which mainly improved and added a new generation of global positioning system, a new thermal camera, a laser rangefinder and a battlefield identification system. By the beginning of 2000, the number of US Army equipment was close to 1 000, among which the 4th Infantry Division of the first digital army in the United States was all equipped with the latest M 1A2SEP. A large number of original M 1A 1 will be upgraded to the level of M 1A2.
Concluding remarks
The M 1 series main battle tanks have withstood the fire test of the Gulf War and the Iraq War. The outstanding problem exposed in the war is the lack of resilience in street fighting, guerrilla warfare and anti-terrorism operations. The Israeli army in Palestine and the Russian army in Chechnya had the same experience. In this regard, they have made or are trying to make various improvements to enhance the adaptability of armored forces and equipment.
Some people think that if only street fighting and anti-terrorism operations are considered, why not put a light chariot like M2 to improve it, but build an M 1 series main battle tank with heavy armor? Fighting terrorism with main battle tanks always makes people feel that they are suspected of "anti-aircraft guns hitting mosquitoes". But in Iraq, street fighting and terrorist attacks highlight the importance of modern main battle tanks in street fighting and anti-terrorism operations. Indeed, in such a battlefield, the main battle tank can not only ensure the life safety of the crew to the maximum extent, but also take into account the psychological feelings of the crew.