M1 Abrams
The problems and age of the M48/M60 Patton series were evident in the 1973 Yom Kippur War: though Israeli Pattons did well, they were vulnerable to infantry antitank missiles. With the knowledge that they would be very outnumbered by Soviet armor in a potential Third World War, the US and West Germany began working on a tank that would be second to none in quality, to balance out the lack of Soviet quantity. The result was the MBT-70, and it was a disaster. It was too complicated, too expensive, and too unwieldy. West Germany left the project to develop the Leopard II, leaving the US Army to go it alone.
Going back to the drawing board, the Army's new XM1 proposal was for a much simpler, yet more powerful tank. A tank needs to be balanced between speed, armament and armor, and the XM1 succeeded in all three. Speed was handled by equipping the XM1 with a jet turbine; while this increased fuel consumption, it also made the tank fast. Armament was the tried and true 105mm gun, with an option to upgrade to the same 120mm used by German and British forces. Finally, armor was solved by the Chobham principle, which used an angular, sloped design with layers of different types of armor, including kevlar and depleted uranium. One of the few items carried over from the MBT-70 was the superb optics and laser rangefinder for aiming, and the blowout panels for the ammunition stowage, which would save the crew in case of fire. The first XM1 rolled off the line in 1976 and went operational in 1980, by which time it was named the M1 Abrams, for Creighton Abrams--regarded by no less than Patton as one of the finest tankers in US Army history, and last commander of US forces in Vietnam.
As it slowly replaced the M60 in US service, the Abrams was thought to be a boondoggle, for its expense and fuel consumption, especially after the enemy it was designed to fight disappeared with the fall of the USSR in 1990. Detractors soon changed their minds, however, when Army M1s tore apart the vaunted tank forces of Iraq in less than four days. While Iraqi forces were not the "varsity" of the Soviet Union, it was still an impressive achievement. There was no more criticism of the Abrams.
Though increasingly an older design, the Abrams remains the only main battle tank in use by the US armed forces. It has seen extensive use in the Second Gulf War, where most have received the modular Tank Urban Survival Kit (TUSK), which makes the M1 more effective in urban environments. Though not remotely designed for the counterinsurgency role, M1s have performed well in large-scaled combat, such as the Second Battle of Fallujah in 2004. At this point, the US armed forces still lack a replacement for the Abrams, and the intent is to further develop it as the M1A3.
Dad originally built this 1/35 Tamiya M1 for himself, when the Abrams was first reaching US Army units. When he picked up a M1A2, however, he decided to give the original M1 to me. We intended to modify it slightly to represent a M1 crew I wrote some short stories about, but never got to it other than removing the commander's M2HB .50 caliber and the loader's M240 7.62mm machine guns. A few items have been added to the side bustles, such as MRE packs and tarps; the original M1 lacked the expanded bustle of the M1A2. The last panel of the side skirt has also been removed; this was common on early M1s, as mud tended to pack up under the return roller wheel. One of these days I will finish it.
Despite the dust (which is fairly accurate for a tank!), this M1 is camouflaged in the US Army's standard two shades of green and tan Europe camouflage of the mid-1980s.
M1 Abrams
The problems and age of the M48/M60 Patton series were evident in the 1973 Yom Kippur War: though Israeli Pattons did well, they were vulnerable to infantry antitank missiles. With the knowledge that they would be very outnumbered by Soviet armor in a potential Third World War, the US and West Germany began working on a tank that would be second to none in quality, to balance out the lack of Soviet quantity. The result was the MBT-70, and it was a disaster. It was too complicated, too expensive, and too unwieldy. West Germany left the project to develop the Leopard II, leaving the US Army to go it alone.
Going back to the drawing board, the Army's new XM1 proposal was for a much simpler, yet more powerful tank. A tank needs to be balanced between speed, armament and armor, and the XM1 succeeded in all three. Speed was handled by equipping the XM1 with a jet turbine; while this increased fuel consumption, it also made the tank fast. Armament was the tried and true 105mm gun, with an option to upgrade to the same 120mm used by German and British forces. Finally, armor was solved by the Chobham principle, which used an angular, sloped design with layers of different types of armor, including kevlar and depleted uranium. One of the few items carried over from the MBT-70 was the superb optics and laser rangefinder for aiming, and the blowout panels for the ammunition stowage, which would save the crew in case of fire. The first XM1 rolled off the line in 1976 and went operational in 1980, by which time it was named the M1 Abrams, for Creighton Abrams--regarded by no less than Patton as one of the finest tankers in US Army history, and last commander of US forces in Vietnam.
As it slowly replaced the M60 in US service, the Abrams was thought to be a boondoggle, for its expense and fuel consumption, especially after the enemy it was designed to fight disappeared with the fall of the USSR in 1990. Detractors soon changed their minds, however, when Army M1s tore apart the vaunted tank forces of Iraq in less than four days. While Iraqi forces were not the "varsity" of the Soviet Union, it was still an impressive achievement. There was no more criticism of the Abrams.
Though increasingly an older design, the Abrams remains the only main battle tank in use by the US armed forces. It has seen extensive use in the Second Gulf War, where most have received the modular Tank Urban Survival Kit (TUSK), which makes the M1 more effective in urban environments. Though not remotely designed for the counterinsurgency role, M1s have performed well in large-scaled combat, such as the Second Battle of Fallujah in 2004. At this point, the US armed forces still lack a replacement for the Abrams, and the intent is to further develop it as the M1A3.
Dad originally built this 1/35 Tamiya M1 for himself, when the Abrams was first reaching US Army units. When he picked up a M1A2, however, he decided to give the original M1 to me. We intended to modify it slightly to represent a M1 crew I wrote some short stories about, but never got to it other than removing the commander's M2HB .50 caliber and the loader's M240 7.62mm machine guns. A few items have been added to the side bustles, such as MRE packs and tarps; the original M1 lacked the expanded bustle of the M1A2. The last panel of the side skirt has also been removed; this was common on early M1s, as mud tended to pack up under the return roller wheel. One of these days I will finish it.
Despite the dust (which is fairly accurate for a tank!), this M1 is camouflaged in the US Army's standard two shades of green and tan Europe camouflage of the mid-1980s.