PANZER: The AbramsX as a design study

At AUSA 22 in the USA, GDLS showcased what the next stage of the Abrams tank could look like. A design study that presents a completely new tank: In the current Abrams, the crew consists of commanders, gunners, loaders, and drivers. In the AbramsX, the crew is reduced to three people, shoulder to shoulder sitting in the front part of the tank hull, with the turret unmanned and an autoloader used for the main cannon.

The American Armata

“On all US tanks, the armor around the crew protected the gun,” said Tim Reese, head of US business development at General Dynamics, at the 2022 Association of the Army conference in Washington, D.C. this week, where the AbramsX made its public debut: “If the crew is no longer at the gun, how much armor do you want to put around it?”

This does not mean that the turret does not receive protection - after all, it is still a heavily armored war machine - but it helps reduce weight. The latest versions of the Abrams weigh more than 70 tons, which can lead to issues with transporting to the battlefield and recovering in case of damage. As the AbramsX is still in development, the final weight of the tank will depend on how the army loads it, but the target would be around 60 tons, according to Reese.

When the crew is not in the turret, the main gun operates through an automatic reloading system. This feature is present in many modern tank designs and even in some older models, like the Russian T-72 and T-80. The Russian invasion in Ukraine showed that this feature is a major weakness in these Soviet tanks: when hit, the ammunition cooks off and blows the turret off. Even with the autoloader, the AbramsX retains the ammunition storage and blowout panels at the rear of the turret. No flying turrets...

The electronics aspect is where it gets visionary: The tank also features an artificial intelligence system that can identify targets on the battlefield. Two independent scanners, connected to the commander and gunner, each search for targets. “It can scan and look for anomalies,” explains Reese. “If the image is good enough, it can determine everything up to the model of the tank and also classify the targets by their threat level.”

Diesel Hybrid Instead of Turbine

The engine has also been upgraded, transitioning from turbines to a diesel-electric system. This allows the tank to operate its internal systems without the need for an extremely loud turbine engine. Reese also mentioned a scenario where the tank could make some limited movements, about 500 meters, using battery power.

So, the future of armored warfare ranges from a new engine to a smaller crew. While it may look somewhat like the old Abrams, under all that armor, the AbramsX is a completely new tank. Exciting for observers: the concept actually bears a striking resemblance to the Russian T-14 Armata.

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