Meggitt Defense Systems will delivered Thermal Management System for M1 Abrams tanks.

Meggitt PLC, a leading international company specializing in high performance components and sub-systems for the aerospace, defense and energy markets, announces that Meggitt Defense Systems, Inc. (MDSI), Irvine, California, has received a $22 million contract to provide the Thermal Management System (TMS) to General Dynamics Land Systems (GD), Sterling Heights, MI, for the Abrams program.

M1A2 SEP V3 main battle tank (Picture source Twitter)

The TMS (Thermal Management System ) provides active cooling to the Abrams upgraded electronics and crew. This contract is the second half of the Abrams ARC1 contract that MDSI was awarded late year for a similar number of TMS. MDSI has produced over 2,520 Thermal Management Systems (TMS) for the Abrams Program previous to this award.

The M1 Abrams entered service in 1980 and is the backbone for the U.S. Army and Marine Corps. The export version is used by the armies of Egypt, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Australia, and Iraq. The Abrams was first used in combat in the Persian Gulf War and has seen combat in both the War in Afghanistan and Iraq War under U.S. service, while Iraqi Abrams tanks have seen action in the war against ISIL and have seen used by Saudi Arabia during the Yemeni Civil War.

The latest version in the M1 Abrams family is the M1A2 SEP V3 or M1A2C, it has increased power generation and distribution, better communications and networking, new Vehicle Health Management System (VHMS) and Line Replaceable Modules (LRMs) for improved maintenance, an Ammunition DataLink (ADL) to use airburst rounds, improved counter-IED armor package, improved FLIR using long- and mid-wave infrared, a low-profile CROWS RWS, Next Generation Armor Package (NGAP), and an Auxiliary Power Unit (APU) under armor to run electronics while stationary instead of the engine, visually distinguishing the version by a small exhaust at the left rear.

More passive ballistic protection added to the turret faces, along with new Explosive Reactive Armor mountings (Abrams Reactive Armor Tile (ARAT) and Trophy Active Protection systems added to the turret sides. Prototypes began testing in 2015, and the first was delivered in October 2017.