The AbramsX is the latest iteration of the Abrams main battle tank, probably the U.S. Army’s most iconic fighting machine, which has been the face of American military power since the early 1980s. Whereas the original Abrams was designed to fight on the plains of Europe against the Soviet Union, AbramsX boasts advanced Chobham armor, a formidably effective 120mm smoothbore gun, and a 1,500-horsepower gas turbine engine for high mobility and protection.
But to some critics, the AbramsX-like U.S. aircraft carriers are a weapon better suited to past wars than the conflicts of the future. The tank boasts state-of-the-art digital systems and countermeasures, but it is still questionable how it would be used in modern combat.
Over recent years, the principal battle tank has fallen under some criticism, in particular, its more advanced variants. During the Second Iraq War, MBTs were assessed as all but useless as the insurgency gained momentum. In the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, the Russian army is very reluctant to commit its advanced T-14 Armata tanks, instead using the older, more easily manufactured, and cheaper-to-operate T-72 MBTs.
Yet, the U.S. is forging ahead with the AbramsX-the behemoth of a tank that was key to Operation Desert Storm and remains one of the finest examples of an active MBT. Named after U.S. Army General Creighton Abrams, the AbramsX was initially designed by Chrysler Defense, now known as General Dynamics Land Systems.
The original M1 Abrams was designed to stem the Red Army’s breach of Western Europe via the Fulda Gap in Germany when it entered service in the 1980s. That conflict never came, but the Abrams saw its worth elsewhere-most notably during Operation Desert Storm. Yet, since the war in Ukraine, the U.S. had promised Kyiv 31 older M1 Abrams tanks, and Ukraine has been slow to deploy those assets for their age, weight, and unsuitability for the soft ground of Ukraine.
The new AbramsX features several state-of-the-art technologies. For one, Chobham armor developed in the UK during the 1960s provides even greater protection against kinetic energy penetrators and high-explosive anti-tank (HEAT) rounds. The main gun of the Abrams is its 120mm smoothbore, a standard Western MBT main gun for many decades; it can fire Armor-Piercing Fin-Stabilized Discarding Sabot rounds and high-explosive HEAT rounds, among others.
AbramsX places critical importance on mobility but also firepower and protection. Powered by a 1,500-horsepower gas turbine, AbramsX will reach road speeds of up to 45 miles per hour, making it among the world’s fastest tanks. Its digital command and control system maximizes the crew’s ability to share information and coordinate their activities. In addition, there’s a laser warning receiver system that is onboard in the tank, which can automatically detect when the tank gets subjected to targeting by laser-guided weapons and rapidly deploys countermeasures.
But one cannot help but wonder: is the AbramsX worth it? America’s newest AbramsX MBT represents a towering achievement in modern engineering, bringing together state-of-the-art armor, firepower, mobility, and advanced technology into one fearsome battlefield force. And yet, in much of the same ways the U.S. Navy’s aircraft carriers are arguably designed to fight the wars of yesterday, not the conflicts of tomorrow, the AbramsX may do the same.
The older variants of the M1 are slowly starting to see casualties, particularly in Syria, Iraq, and Ukraine-for the most part from enhanced anti-tank missiles and better Russian DU armor-piercing rounds. Still, the U.S.-operated Abrams remains the most survivable and operable MBT on the planet. There will be another upgrade to the Abrams starting around 2026-2028, and already a replacement for the Abrams is in design since the tank will have approached 50 years as a design, and over 40 years as an operational weapons system.