On December 21, 2017, General Dynamics Land Systems Inc., Sterling Heights, Michigan, was awarded a $2,628,902,518 fixed-price-incentive contract for the upgrade of up to 786 M1A1 configured Abrams Main Battle Tanks (MBTs) to newly configured M1A2 System Enhancement Package Version 3 (M1A2 Abrams SEP V3), and to upgrade M1A1 vehicles to M1A12S for Saudi Arabia and M1A2-K tanks for Kuwait.
U.S. Marines with Alpha Company, 1st Tank Battalion, 1st Marine Division, arrives at Tactical Assembly Area Abrams in an M1A1 Abrams tank during exercise Steel Knight 2018 at Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center, Twentynine Palms, Calif., Dec. 4, 2017. (Picture source US MoD)
Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of Dec. 21, 2020. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Warren, Michigan, is the contracting activity.
The first production M1A1 was completed in August 1985 and of the US Army buy of 8,064 tanks, 4,796 are M1A1s. In addition to the upgraded armour of the Improved M1 MBT, the M1A1 has the 120 mm M256 smoothbore gun and an integrated NBC system. Other improvements on the M1A1 include re-indexed torsion bars, increased damping rate of shock-absorbers, strengthened compensating idler arms, modified transmission, road wheels and final drive, redesigned loader's seat, redesigned stowage under loader's seat, new loader's shoulder guard, new tank commander's panel, electrical harness re-routed and fold-up turret bustle rack.
The M1A2 MBT provides enhanced operational fight ability over that of the M1A1 MBT. The improvements of the M1A2 include Improved Commander's Weapon Station (ICWS), Commander's Independent Thermal Viewer (CITV), an Inter-Vehicular Information System (IVIS), Position/Navigation System (POS/NAV) and several survivability initiatives.
General Dynamics Land Systems M1A2 SEP V3 main battle tank at AUSA 2015, defense exhibition in Washington D.C. (Picture source Army Recognition)
The M1A2 SEP V3 is the latest generation of American main battle tank in the M1 Abrams family. he M1A2 Abrams SEP V3 (System Enhanced Package) is a modernized version of the M1A2 SEPV V2 main battle tank which has a number of upgrades in the areas of survivability, maintainability, full efficiency and network capability. In October 2015, the M1A2 SP V3 was presented for the first time at AUSA, defense exhibition in Washington D.C. Nine prototype are available since October 2015 and seven would be tested by the U.S. Army.
In September 2017, the website SCOUT has announced that U.S. Army will receive first of six newly-upgraded M1A2 SEP v3 Abrams Main Battle Tank.
The new M1 Abrams MBT variant also includes improved connectivity—allowing for better communications with advanced network capabilities. Tank crews are also afforded vastly improved displays and man-machine interfaces that should enhance their situational awareness.
The M1A2 SEP V3 also has improved survivability and lethality compared to older Abrams models. The new Abrams tank has advanced abilities to defeat improvised explosive devices and has an upgraded armor package. The addition of a new Ammunition Data Link supports use of advanced new ammunition types that are either already fielded or will be fielded in the near future.
