Key Points and Summary – The M1 Abrams is the world’s most accomplished main battle tank, renowned for its incredible combination of speed, armor, and firepower.
-Powered by a 1,500-horsepower gas turbine engine—the same type used in helicopters—this 73-ton beast can reach speeds of 45 mph.
CINCU, Romania – U.S. Army Soldiers of 1st Battalion, 66th Armored Regiment, 3rd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, setup their M1 Abram Tanks during Getica Saber 17, July 10, 2017. Getica Saber 17 is a U.S.-led fire support coordination exercise and combined arms live fire exercise that incorporates six allied and partner nations with more than 4,000 Soldiers. Getica Saber 17 runs concurrent with Saber Guardian 17, a U.S. Army Europe-led, multinational exercise that spans across Bulgaria, Hungary and Romania with more than 25,000 service members from 22 allied and partner nations. Image Credit: US Military.
-Its legendary reputation was cemented during the Battle of 73 Easting in Desert Storm, where it annihilated an entire Iraqi armored force without a single loss.
-With its advanced composite armor and the ability to fire its 120mm main gun with pinpoint accuracy while on the move, the Abrams remains a dominant force.
How Fast Is The M1 Abrams Tank?
“Speed is life,” quoth the fighter pilot’s motto. We see the embodiment in warbirds such as (to name just a few examples) the American-made McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom (Mach 2.23) and F-15 Eagle (Mach 2.5), and the Soviet Air Force’s MiG-25 “Foxbat” (Mach 3.2).
Now, one generally does not associate the “Speed is life” motto with tanks, especially main battle tanks (MBTs). After all, these big, lumbering, clanky war machines have always been known more for their toughness (due to their armor) and big guns than for blinding speed. And to be certain, tanks will almost certainly never attain supersonic speed. (Way back in the day, the Christie M1931 did manage to hit 104 mph, but that was with the aid of an aircraft engine.) However, relative speed is still an asset for tanks, as noted by the anonymous editor of Defense Tech Global in a May 11, 2025, article titled “What Makes a Tank a ‘Main Battle Tank’?” The article questions. “MBTs integrate mobility, robust protection, and heavy firepower into a single system.”
Which brings us to our current subject at hand: the M1 Abrams, which is the most accomplished and battle-proven MBT in the world. The Abrams has a top speed of 45 mph (72 kph) on level ground.
How Does the M1 Abrams Achieve That Speed?
As noted by Tolu Akinshete in a June 30, 2025, article for SlashGear, that is “an impressive feat for a tracked vehicle that weighs more than six Type C school buses, which each have capacity for 70 passengers.” To quantify that more precisely, the latest variant M1A2 SEPv3 has a mass of 73.6 short tons (66.8 long tons, 147,200 lbs.)
This load is made possible by the Abrams’s powerplant, the Honeywell Aerospace Technologies AGT1500 gas turbine engine (originally produced by Lycoming Engines). As the manufacturer’s official info page notes: “The engine provides 1,500 horsepower, enabling superior acceleration and mobility, propelling the 72-ton tank up to speed of 42 mph. The AGT1500’s reliability and performance has enabled the Abrams vehicle to become a staple of the military arsenal, accumulating more than 40 million miles over the past 25 years…Its features include compact design, cold-starting capabilities, instant power, multi-fuel capabilities and stealthy operation. This engine is the world standard for tank durability and survivability.”
Specifications of the AGT1500 include a length of 66.5 inches, a depth of 31.8 inches, a width of 40 inches, a weight of just under 2,500 lbs., and a volume of 48 cubic feet (1.35 cubic meters) with a modular design. It generates 2,750 lb-ft of peak torque from just 3,000 rpm.
What Else Makes the Abrams MBT Special?
This tank’s real-world battlefield reputation has been built both on its ability to take punishment and to dish it out.
The survivability is due to its composite armor. All variants use Rolled Homogeneous Steel and High Hardness Steel, standard in most tank armor for basic ballistic protection and penetration resistance. For good measure, M1A2 export models use rubber to enhance resilience against impacts, and the M1A1HA/M1A2 variants combine features from both the M1A1 and M1A2, using depleted uranium rods to significantly increase armor density and protection against anti-tank projectiles.
An M1A2 SEP v2 Abrams assigned to Bravo Company, 4th Battalion, 70th Armored Regiment, 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division, fires at a target during a zero range at Rodriguez Live-Fire Complex, South Korea, Aug. 5, 2024. The unit is participating in a deployment readiness exercise in support of Operation Pacific Fortitude, which supports long-standing agreements to the Republic of Korea by deploying forces, drawing and transporting equipment to validate unit readiness and the U.S. commitment to the alliance. (U.S. Army photo by Cpl. David Poleski)
(If depleted uranium sounds familiar, it should; it’s the primary ingredient in the tank-killing 30mm shells spewed from the GAU-8/A Avenger cannon of the A-10 Warthog warplane. In other words, depleted uranium can serve as either a blessing or a curse for MBTs.)
Better still, the M1A2 SEPv2 upgrade also incorporates Boron Carbide Ceramics and Titanium Support Framework. The latter attribute promotes structural integrity and weight reduction, indicating a focus on enhancing protective capabilities while managing overall weight (titanium is lighter than steel).
As far as the ability to dish out punishment is concerned, that is manifested in its 120mm main gun, which can punch through enemy armor like a knife through butter. And then there’s the accuracy to accompany its range and power; the Abrams does not have to stop to engage the enemy, as it can shoot accurately on the move, which also further boosts the tank’s (not to mention the crew’s) survival prospects.
73 Easting: The Abrams’s Finest Hour
At the outset of the 1991 Persian Gulf War, it was thought that the Soviet-designed T-72 MBTs possessed by the elite Republican Guards of then-Iraqi strongman Saddam Hussein would be roughly evenly matched with the M1 Abrams.
After all, a mere nine years earlier, during the 1982 Lebanon War, the T-72 had earned a reputation for toughness. The Israeli Defense Force (IDF) rated the T-72’s armor as extremely tough to defeat from the front but somewhat easier to defeat on the flanks, whilst the IDF’s Syrian adversaries were very appreciative of their T-72s, with stories abounding of Hafez Assad’s troops hugging the armor of their MBTs “in gratitude.”
U.S. Soldiers assigned to 1st Squadron, 7th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, sit ready to engage targets in an M1 Abrams Main Battle Tank during Combined Resolve XV live fire exercise at Grafenwoehr Training Area, Germany, Feb. 9, 2021. Combined Resolve XV is a Headquarters Department of the Army directed Multinational exercise designed to build 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Divisions’s readiness and enhance interoperability with allied forces to fight and win against any adversary. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Randis Monroe)
However, during Desert Storm, the T-72s were totally outclassed by the Abrams. This was most dramatically demonstrated during the Battle of 73 Easting on 26-27 February 1991, which participant Lt. John Mecca later described as “the last great tank battle of the 20th century.” Therein, the Iraqi Army lost 160 tanks, 180 armored personnel carriers (APCs), and 600 – 1,000 troops killed and wounded, versus zero tanks, one M2 Bradley fighting vehicle, 6 KIA, and 19 WIA for the Americans.
Thus, the legendary reputation of the M1 Abrams was firmly cemented.
About the Author: Christian D. Orr, Defense Expert
Christian D. Orr is a Senior Defense Editor. He is a former Air Force Security Forces officer, Federal law enforcement officer, and private military contractor (with assignments worked in Iraq, the United Arab Emirates, Kosovo, Japan, Germany, and the Pentagon). Chris holds a B.A. in International Relations from the University of Southern California (USC) and an M.A. in Intelligence Studies (concentration in Terrorism Studies) from American Military University (AMU).
More Military
We Almost Touched the F-117 Stealth Fighter
