U.S. Army will receive first M1A2 Abrams SEP v3 MBT main battle tanks.

According to the website SCOUT, U.S. Army will receive first of six newly-upgraded M1A2 SEP v3 Abrams Main Battle Tank. The first M1A2 SEP v3 tank, built by General Dynamics Land Systems, is slated to arrive as soon as this month – as part of a delivery of initial prototype vehicles, developers said.

M1A2 Abrams SEP v3 main battle tank at AUSA 2015, defense exhibition in Washington D.C., United States.

The U.S. Army will start to field the new Abrams M1A2 Sep V3 model starting in the third quarter of fiscal year 2020.

The M1A2 SEP v3 was developed as an Engineering Change Proposal (ECP), the upgrade adds significant new capabilities to the Abrams. GDLS was originally awarded the contract for the Abrams ECP1a Program in Sept. 2012. At its core, the program was an engineering development program to improve the Abrams’ Size Weight and Power-Cooling (SWaP-C) capacity as the tank was running out of room to grow.

According to General Dynamics, some of the major improvements within the ECP1a program include increased power generation and distribution capacity.

The new Abrams 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 SEP v.3 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.