The crisis in Ukraine has shown the continued relevance of tanks in land warfare, with Ukrainian forces burning through dozens of Western-made tanks, once touted as superior to anything Russia’s got. What is the US military-industrial complex’s vision of the future of tank warfare, and how does the AbramsX play into it? Sputnik explores.
Social media has been abuzz with discussions about the AbramsX main battle tank demonstrator after its unveiling to the general public at the General Dynamics Land Systems Maneuver Collaboration Center in Sterling Heights, Michigan this week.
Photos from the event show civilians posing with the armored behemoth, painted Wehrmacht gray and slapped with at least five stylized AbramsX logos on the turret and the front its side skirts.
Social media has had a field day poking light fun at the prototype, asking whether its components, like angled side skirts, have any “real purpose other than fashion points,” and cracking jokes about its cheap-looking general purpose tail lamps, the wooden plank used in place of a parking brake, and what appears to be a backwards installed optical gunsight module. Some asked whether the tank was a Tesla product, a Gundam, or the result of would happen if an old Abrams and a Lamborghini mated.
AbramsX MBT prototype.
© Photo Twitter / @ronkainen7k15
What are the AbramsX’s Characteristics?
General Dynamics has offered quite a few details about the prototype tank’s features since it was first unveiled at an expo in Washington, DC in October 2022.
While it may look similar to a standard Abrams MBT, the AbramsX has a reported weight of as little as 49 metric tons, 17 tons less than a fully-loaded M1 Abrams, and features a 7.9-meter-long, 3.6-meter-wide, 2.3-meter-tall “body.”
The prototype features an unmanned turret design with an XM360 120 mm smoothbore gun, and a three-person crew-in-cockpit arrangement, one fewer than the M1 (dropping the loader), including a separate hatch for each crewmember. Press images show that the tank’s turret includes a 30 mm XM914 chain gun, plus a 7.62 mm coaxial machine gun.
AbramsX prototype.
© Photo Twitter / @ronkainen7k15
As might be expected in a next-gen main battle tank, the AbramsX is reportedly set to be fitted with AI capabilities to lessen the crew’s workload, including for the identification and prioritization of targets, and communications with friendly drones acting as scouts or strike UAVs.
The tank is expected to include dual-360 degree day/night panoramic thermal sights – one each for the commander and gunner.
General Dynamics also plans to pack the AbramsX with Katalyst Next Generation Electronic Architecture (NGEA) of the same kind that the defense giant has included in its prospective unmanned combat robots, enabling them with the ability to navigate terrain and avoid obstacles. Details are scarce, but these capabilities on the AbramsX may enable the tank to operate fully autonomously.
Designers are also working on a “hemispheric” active protection system to detect and intercept enemy anti-tank missiles and rocket-propelled grenades.
Will the Tank Actually Be Built?
Arguably one of the tank’s most significant features is its hybrid electric-diesel engine, which, it’s hoped, will improve fuel efficiency by up to 50 percent compared to the M1 (whose Honeywell multi-fuel turbine engine has turned the existing Abrams tank into one of the heaviest gas guzzlers around). The AbramsX is expected to be capable of running in silent mode for short periods of time using electric power, thus enabling the tank to sneak up on foes (if the behemoth isn’t spotted from several kilometers away, that is).
It’s not clear whether General Dynamics will get the necessary backing from the Pentagon to engage in further research and prepare the AbramsX platform for production.
“It’s too early to say what the future of the Army’s battle tank is going to be. What I can tell you is that, you know, we are looking down the road, you know, what, what are the investments that we need to make, you know, what is currently the art of the possible, and I think as [Army Futures Command] continues to do experimentation through the Next Generation Combat Vehicle Cross-Functional Team, and we will begin to extract some lessons learned,” Under Secretary of the Army Gabe Camarillo told US media earlier this year, when asked about the AbramsX’s prospects.
