The US has unveiled its new AbramsX Main Battle Tank (MBT) and Mobile Protected Firepower (MPF) light tank, both purposely designed for expeditionary operations vis-a-vis China in Asia and Russia in Europe.
The Warzone reported that General Dynamics Land Systems (GDLS) revealed its anticipated AbramsX MBT prototype, which marks a deep modernization of the long-serving M1 Abrams tank that has been in service since the 1980s.
The tank sports a highly-revised turret with multiple electro-optical sights and a remote weapon station with a 30mm chain gun. Its main armament is a 120mm smoothbore gun derived from the XM360 120mm cannon of the canceled Future Combat Systems (FCS) vehicle.
The source also notes that the AbramsX features an unmanned turret and an autoloader, which decreases crew size from four to three, increases survivability, frees up turret space for future upgrades and reduces vehicle weight.
Photos released by GDLS show turret slots for countermeasure grenades, active protection systems and distributed aperture camera systems (DAS).
The tank also appears to have an advanced sensor suite for the driver that could feed into the DAS architecture to provide a 360-degree video feed. Moreover, augmented reality could allow the crew to “look through” the tank’s hull and digitally highlight objects of interest in their surroundings. These capabilities significantly increase the tank’s situational awareness, a significant handicap for armored fighting vehicles.
A separate article in The Warzone notes that the AbramsX sports a hybrid diesel-electric powertrain with the same range as the M1A2 Abrams but with 50% less fuel consumption. This upgrade eases the strain on logistics chains, as the M1 Abrams’ gas turbine engine is known to be fuel-hungry, maintenance-intensive and loud.
In addition, in all-electric mode, the tank sports enhanced silent watch capability and can silently move short distances, allowing it to avoid detection and save fuel.
The KATALYST Next Generation Electronic Architecture (NGEA) connects the AbramsX’s systems and provides easy hardware upgrades and software modifications, essentially future-proofing the tank and allowing the design to be quickly adapted in response to changing tactical realities and technologies.
At the same time, the US has started production of its first light tank since the Vietnam War to improve protection, mobility and direct-fire capabilities for infantry brigade combat teams.
Defense News reported that GDLS would start manufacturing the US Army’s MPF system in November, the spiritual successor to the Vietnam War air-droppable M551 Sheridan light tank. GDLS is slated to initially deliver 26 units, while its contract with the US Army allows for 70 more vehicles.
Popular Mechanics notes that the 38-ton MPF is armed with a 105mm main gun and a 7.62mm machine gun. It shares the same fire control system with the M1 Abrams, and its chassis is based on the UK’s Ajax reconnaissance vehicle. Reports indicate the US Army plans to take possession of its first MPF unit by 2025, with 504 units expected to be produced, enough to equip 12 MPF battalions with 42 vehicles each.
GDLS unveiled the AbramsX shortly after reports that Russia has deployed its T-14 Armata MBT in Ukraine. The T-14, Russia’s latest MBT, claims to be a radical departure from the Soviet-era tank designs deployed in earlier phases of the ongoing conflict.
Military Watch Magazine reported that, on October 8, a single T-14 was sighted near Midginskaya in Luhansk. The report notes that the advanced tank’s deployment comes after growing signs that Russia is about to escalate its war effort in Ukraine through partial mobilization, rapid commissioning of more T-90 tanks and potentially opening a new front through Belarus.
Asia Times has previously reported on the T-14’s specifications, with the new tank sporting an unmanned turret with an isolated crew capsule deep in the hull, which contrasts with older Soviet designs in Russian and Ukrainian service, such as the T-72 and T-64.
In addition, the T-14 is armed with an autoloading 125mm 82-1M smoothbore gun that can fire anti-tank missiles.
The T-14 weighs 48 tons, is significantly lighter than the M1A2 Abrams at 70 tons, and can reach speeds of 90 kilometers per hour. It is also equipped with next-generation Malachit explosive reactive armor (ERA), which can potentially defeat advanced anti-tank missiles.
Military Watch notes that the T-14’s deployment to Ukraine may have more to do with its increased survivability and anti-infantry capabilities than defeating Ukraine’s tank units. The source notes Ukraine’s lack of advanced tanks and that even Russia’s T-72B3s are more than a match for Ukraine’s outdated tanks, with a small force of T-14s potentially becoming a potent force on the battlefield.
Considering Russia’s huge tank losses to Ukraine due to the latter’s vast stocks of US Javelin and the UK Next Generation Light Anti-Tank Weapon (NLAW) missiles, the T-14’s Malachit ERA can potentially defeat these weapons. The source also mentions that T-14 can fire the radio-detonated Teknik high-explosive fragmentation shell, which can prove devastating to Ukrainian massed infantry.
However, in deploying the T-14 to Ukraine, Russia runs the risk of its most advanced tank technology being compromised and studied by NATO, should one of them be destroyed or captured in Ukraine. Also, due to sanctions, Russia’s struggling economy might mean it can field only minimal numbers of T-14s, which may not be enough to shift the military balance decisively.
As the T-14s capabilities remain largely unknown, NATO may attempt to outmatch the T-14 with advanced tanks such as the US AbramsX and German Panther KF51. But the return of large-scale industrialized wars of attrition, as seen in Ukraine, underscores the need for cheap and easily-produced weapons that can be quickly supplied with fuel and ammunition.
The high costs of the AbramsX, KF51 and T-14 and their sensitive technologies are a strong disincentive for mass production and could make such tanks too valuable to risk in actual combat situations.
At the same time, the US may be rebuilding its light tank fleet for a potential conflict with China in the Pacific. Heavy MBTs such as 70-ton M1 Abrams tanks may be of questionable utility in small, far-flung islands as they may not be transportable quickly enough and in sufficient numbers by existing airlift and sealift capabilities.
Light tanks such as the MPF may thus be more suitable for island defense operations. Their smaller size, weight and logistical requirements can allow them to be quickly transported across vast oceanic distances in sufficient numbers. In addition, the lower ground pressure of such vehicles compared to MBTs makes them less likely to get stuck in mud or wet sand, a feature critical for amphibious assaults in the South China Sea or Taiwan Strait.
Their increased maneuverability compared to MBTs means that they could be deployed alongside infantry during beach assaults rather than waiting for the infantry to establish a beachhead before being offloaded. Finally, their added speed minimizes the operational pause between landing and advancing from the beachhead, enabling ground forces deployed in an amphibious attack to push and seize quickly inland objectives.