You know the M1 Abrams tank is great, but which version would you pick as the best of all time? I vote for the Abrams M1A2 SEPv3 Main Battle Tank as the GOAT.
It is so well-regarded that the Australian Army has ordered 75 new Abrams SEPv3s. They were seen traveling by train to Port Hueneme in California in June of last year. Each tank had the tell-tale Aussie red kangaroo painted on its hull. This sale is worth a whopping $1.7 billion of “twisted steel and lots of appeal” that should excite Australian tankers to have such an advanced beast serving in their army.
And this might be the best tank ever to be built.
But, to be frank, we need disclose one thing: this M1 Abrams tank has a secret weapon of sorts. It is easy to understand: decades and decades of upgrades making it easily the best tank to ever roll anywhere.
M1A2 SEPv3 : This is the Cadillac of Tanks
The M1A2 SEPv3 is the latest version of the Abrams family of MBTs. There are so many new systems on the SEPv3 that I need a hand from the folks at ArmyRecognition.com to describe them all:
“It features increased power generation and distribution capabilities, enhanced communications and networking, a new Vehicle Health Management System (VHMS), and Line Replaceable Modules (LRMs) for improved maintenance. The tank also includes an Ammunition DataLink (ADL) for airburst rounds, improved counter-IED armor, a Next Generation Armor Package (NGAP), and an Auxiliary Power Unit (APU) to power electronics while stationary.”
More New Systems
Did you get all that? But wait, there are even more goodies.
The SEPv3 has explosive reactive armor and a Trophy Active Protection System for better survivability against incoming rounds or from mines and improvised explosive devices (IED). There is also the Duke V3 counter remote-controlled IED electronic warfare system. Meanwhile, the Trophy system can counter-act incoming rockets and missiles.
Watch Out for These Armaments
The latest Abrams features a 120mm M256 smoothbore gun with a maximum effective range of 4,000 meters. It can send advanced kinetic energy and multi-purpose rounds down range. There is also a remote-control system to fire the 12.7mm machine gun and a 7.62mm M240 machine gun. The fire control mechanism is equipped with FLIR sensors.
The SEPv3’s crew configuration will be familiar to tankers experienced on the Abrams. The driver’s cab is on the forward center hull, the turret is in the middle, and the power pack is at the rear.
The new tank has a Honeywell AGT1500 gas turbine engine that pushes out 1,500 horsepower.
Can You Believe How Old the Abrams Platform Is?
The SEPv3 is so good, it is expected to serve until the 2040s. That is an amazing run for the Abrams which started as a concept under the Carter administration in the 1970s with initial introduction in 1980. All Abrams tanks in service are expected to receive the SEPv3 upgrade by 2027.
What About Performance in Combat?
But here’s the difficult part. All these updates sound awesome on paper but what about in combat? We at the National Security Journal have documented how the older Abrams M1A2 models serving in Ukraine have not exactly set the world on fire. The Ukrainian tankers have not taken to the Abrams in the same manner that they have enthusiastically embraced the Bradley Fighting Vehicle. The Abrams can be difficult to operate effectively without years of training and it can be a challenge to maintain.
Again, We Ask: Is the Tank Obsolete?
Also, critics, in general, wonder if any tank, no matter how advanced, can still be effective on the battlefield.
An anti-tank missile or a drone can spell doom for even the most modern tank in the world. A tank is also only good as its doctrine. Can an army determine how to best use a tank as the main tool for mechanized warfare? It takes a precise amount of training and execution for combined arms warfare when you bring in armored personnel carriers and artillery to the mix.
The Ukrainians are still learning this but the recent incursion into Russia has shown that they are excelling at using an armored shock force to burst through undefended lines to surprise the inexperienced Russians.
It will be interesting to see how the Aussies do with the SEPv3 models. These new systems are highly sophisticated and take years to master. If I were advising the Australian army command, I would recommend sending Aussie tankers to the United States for more operation and maintenance training. Even the best operators will need tender loving care from the SEPv3.
Overall, the SEPv3 upgrade package makes the Abrams even more powerful and lethal with great survivability. The new version will probably never see the battlefield in Ukraine, but armored crews will be watching how tank warfare in the age of drones evolves during the fight between Russians and Ukrainians.
The Americans will adjust tactics, techniques, and procedures, take the most modern M1 Abrams SEPv3, and learn to use it with maximum effectiveness.
About the Author: Dr. Brent M. Eastwood
Brent M. Eastwood, PhD, is the author of Don’t Turn Your Back On the World: a Conservative Foreign Policy and Humans, Machines, and Data: Future Trends in Warfare, plus two other books. Brent was the founder and CEO of a tech firm that predicted world events using artificial intelligence. He served as a legislative fellow for U.S. Senator Tim Scott and advised the senator on defense and foreign policy issues. He has taught at American University, George Washington University, and George Mason University. Brent is a former U.S. Army Infantry officer. He can be followed on X @BMEastwood.
bobb
August 28, 2024 at 3:11 pm
No doubt the SEPv3 is a real masterpiece in tank design, but how to use it in ukraine, where the 70-ton weight would lend it to sink deep into the soft mud of the Donbass region.
And how would Aussie SEPv3 tanks fare in the paddy fields of Taiwan or Okinawa.
And how’s SEPv3s gonna hold their own in the future as ATGMs evolve into super duper long long range weapons where they can home in from far far away on the heated air rising from the vehicle’s engine bay with the tank crew oblivious to the danger.
The videos of Leopard 2 tanks suddenly catching fire in Syria should point to the most likely fate of SEPv3 tanks in the battlefields of tomorrow.
Dan Farrand
August 31, 2024 at 4:01 pm
The M1 is too big, too heavy, too expensive, too hard to operate and maintain.
Guns effective out to 4000 meters, but most of the tank on tank fights (very few at that) in Ukraine have occurred at 800 meters or less.
Most M1 kills in Ukraine appear to have been from FPV drones or Lancets attacking the top or turret bustle or engine deck.
Not sure what the best answer is. But one of the assumptions of the M1 is that a peer level war can be conducted with a “professional” military.
I’m wondering if the reality isnt that a peer level fight would have to be fought with a conscripted army. Thankfully, thats probably impossible in the US today even imagining that SBU like conscription methods could be used. Ukrainians are remarkably compliant.
Given the scale of casualties we see in Ukraine our volunteer army will probably fail pretty quickly.
So maybe the deeper reality is that the Army is a giant bluff, that can never really be used in a peer level conflict of any duration.
RTColorado
August 31, 2024 at 5:13 pm
No boutsadoubtit…the best tank ever.
Doyle
September 1, 2024 at 2:51 pm
The difference between the Leopard and M1A2 export versions sent to Ukraine is the sep3 has the Trophy system which should be able to deal with drones. The so called near peers do not have this although the Russians have made the claim and shockingly lied about the capability of their system…big shock there.
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