Expensive and not angry: why the US Army does not need a new main Abrams battle tank
However, those days have long gone, and the war in Ukraine shows how difficult the fate of combat tanks is in the era of drones. Why does the Pentagon spend as much money from its huge budget to create systems that, even with the most advanced technologies, will never be as good as their developers claim? This is stated in the article by Brandon's analyst J. Weikhrt, which was translated by Focus.
General Dynamics Land Systems (GDLS) presented the so -called Abramsx at the US Army Association Conference in 2022. Designed to eliminate the limitation of the current M1A2 Abrams and find the use of advanced technologies, Abramsx is intended to ensure the dominance of American armored vehicles by the 2050s.
However, it is extremely doubtful that all this hype will indeed lead to the creation of a tank capable of resisting drone with artificial intelligence and hypersonic weapons on the battlefield of the future. Initially, the army intended to simply once again modernize the original Abrams. But Pentagon decided to cancel the proposed M1A2 Sepv4 in favor of the more ambitious M1E3 Abrams, the predecessor of Abramsx.
Abramsx is distinguished by many improvements, such as reduced weight, which eliminates the key disadvantage of M1A2 Abrams. It also includes gradual improvements, such as Trophy Active Protection System. Abramsx weighs about 60 tons, it is lighter and more maneuverable, which improves its ability to cross the bridges, pass through strategic corridors and not stay behind from infantry and lighter combat vehicles.
This weight loss, achieved without sacrificing survivability, was made possible by the recycled tower and the improved armor configuration. The lightweight body accelerates the deployment, which is a key factor for rapid response operations against close opponents and reduces the logistics load on transport infrastructure. Abramsx is equipped with a hybrid electric power plant that combines Cummins diesel engine with electric batteries, which finally gave up the M1A2 fuel -intensive gas turbine.
In combination with weight loss, this system provides a 50% higher fuel efficiency compared to the available Abrams, which reduces the need for large logistics support. The ABRAMSX hybrid engine also provides "silent surveillance" when the tank can run from batteries or move at short distances without thermal or acoustic signatures. This stealth function increases the survival in the fighting, giving Abramsx a huge advantage over the enemy.
The hybrid system also supports the power of onboard electronics, which corresponds to the concept of the army to create energy efficient platforms. Regarding the non-traveling tower, it has a 120-mm gun with a slit muzzle brake, created on the basis of XM360, capable of shooting modern ammunition, such as shells with trajectory correction and anti-tank controlled missiles. The XM914 30-mm combat module that has replaced the traditional .
50 machine gun, increases the tank's ability to hit light armored vehicles, infantry and drones with a programmable ammunition with a airline. Artificial intelligence (AI) will play a central role in the design of Abramsx, and systems such as Katalyst Next Generation Electronics Architecture will provide integration of open architecture for future modernization.
AI -based systems can identify and prioritize threats, with a high degree of confidence warning the crew of such hazards as enemy tanks that are several kilometers. 360-degree panoramic sights of the tank, equipped with a multi-sensory detection system, allow the commander and the traveler to scan the environment independently from each other without returning the tower.
Abramsx can also run and control drones such as Switchblade 300, integrating piloted and unmanned systems (MUM-T) for remote reconnaissance and impact for purposes. These functions turn Abramsx into a network knot on the battlefield capable of coordinating the actions of ground robots and air platforms.
To counteract the drones from Abramsx drones is equipped with a hemispherical active protection system (APS) with three radars and starting installations for a 360-degree tracking designed to intercept ammunition that attack from above where the armor is thinner. Increased armor, specially designed to protect against scattering ammunition and drones-Kamikadze, further increases survival.
The modular tank design allows you to quickly integrate new counteraction means, providing adaptability to the threats that arise. Abramsx also supports the US Army Optionally Manned Tank (OMT), which explores autonomous and semi -autonomous platforms. With the integration of artificial intelligence and MUM-T, the tank can work in pairs with robotic ammunition conveyors or intelligence drone, which reduces the risks of crew and increases the flexibility of use on the battlefield.
This complements the efforts of the army to modernize Stryker vehicles and develop long -range systems, which provides trouble -free Abramsx integration into the United Armed Forces maneuvers. From a strategic point of view, Abramsx signals the US desire to maintain an advantage in armored vehicles over opponents such as China and Russia, whose Type 99A and T-14 armata tanks are called to challenge Western development.
While Chinese tanks are lagging behind in the field of crew protection, and Russian T-14 has problems in terms of production and reliability, advanced sensors, artificial intelligence and modular architecture of Abramsx give it an advantage over all current rivals. However, despite its prospects, Abramsx faces serious problems. The platform remains demonstration and not ready for production, but as of May 2025, the army did not order a prototype.
The development schedule involves the start of the tank in the early 2030s, provided successful testing and financing. The high cost of the integration of the AI, hybrid drive and the improved APS causes fears, especially taking into account the history of the Pentagon, which regularly exceeds the budget during the development of complex systems, such as the F-35 fighter.
Critics warn that the technological complexity of ABRAMSX can lead to problems with maintenance, which potentially eliminates its advantages on the battlefield. Hybrid engines of the tank are also the subject of controversy. According to some analysts, lithium batteries are threatened with fire because they burn better than traditional fuel, which can make Abramsx an expensive target for enemy drones.
More importantly, albeit a more abstract question: why not simply get rid of massive VTTs and not replace them with more compact and mobile unmanned unmanned systems? The experience of war in Ukraine shows that the traditional advantages of the VTT for both sides of the conflict are nullified by modern drone and portable anti -tank systems such as Javelin. In the end, the era of crew VTT should reach the end. Americans are still playing the rules of the last century.
No matter how impressive Abramsx will be, in the era of advanced unmanned shock systems and anti -tank weapons, it is likely to never pay off. Creating cheaper automated systems would be a more reasonable use of limited resources of America. Brandon J. Weikhert is a national security analyst, a former Congress employee and a geopolitical analyst who writes for The Washington Times, Asia Times and The-Pipeline.