does the us army need a new main battle tank

“We are working several different paths,” he said in late-May testimony to the HASC subcommittee. JD Sacharok, Operations Group, National Training Center) Soldiers, assigned to the 2nd Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division, secure their Battalion headquarters in a M1 Abrams Tank, during Decisive Action Rotation 17-04 at the National Training Center in Fort Irwin, Calif., Feb 19, 2017. A secondary effort will upgrade the current HETS trucks to accommodate heavier tanks, Murray said. Currently the HETS cannot legally haul tanks in Europe, where they have been stationed as part of the European Reassurance initiative.Īs an immediate fix to that problem, the Army in its fiscal 2018 budget submission requested $37.4 million to buy of 20 new HETS that are able to transport the M1A2 Abrams in Europe. Murray told the House Armed Services (HASC) Subcommittee on Tactical Air and Land Forces that the tanks now exceeds the safe towing capacity of the Heavy Equipment Transporter – a member of the family of heavy tactical vehicles that consists of a large truck and trailer designed to haul the M1 Abrams.

John Murray, deputy chief of staff and Army G-8. Continuously upgrading Abrams has caused a ripple of secondary upgrade requirements through the Army’s combat support vehicle fleet, according to Lt. Weighing in at nearly 80-tons, the current iteration of the M1 Abrams main battle tank is bristling with after-market gear that make it the most lethal tank in the world but add more weight than support vehicles can handle.Īdding more armor, sensors and heavier weapons onto the Abrams has not bogged down the Abrams itself, but the heavy tank is too cumbersome for tow vehicles to lug and for bridging equipment to support.

Does the us army need a new main battle tank