Summary and Key Points – The cancellation of the M10 Booker in mid-2025 has ignited a rapid shift in the U.S. Army land warfare strategy. It follows a pattern of the Army cancelling many different weapons platforms with little to show for it.
-Designed for airborne infantry support, the Booker’s 38-ton weight ultimately proved too heavy for C-130 airdrops, leading to its termination in favor of the M1E3 Abrams and XM30 Infantry Fighting Vehicle. Unveiled as a pre-prototype in January 2026, the M1E3 focuses on a lightweight, modular architecture and hybrid power.
An M109 Paladin, assigned to 1st Battalion, 82nd Field Artillery Regiment, fires a round of high-explosive artillery during Dynamic Front on Forward Operating Site Torun, Poland, Nov. 19, 2024. Dynamic Front takes place from Nov. 4-24 in Finland, Estonia, Germany, Poland, and Romania, and demonstrates NATO’s ability to share fire missions, target information, and operational graphics from the Arctic to the Black Sea. It increases the lethality of the Alliance through long-range fires, builds unit readiness in a complex joint, multi-national environment, and leverages host nation capabilities to increase USAREUR-AF’s operational reach. Dynamic Front includes more than 1,800 U.S. and 3,700 multi-national service members from 28 Allied and partner nations. (U.S. Army photo by Spc. Julian Winston)
-Meanwhile, the XM30 is fast-tracking autonomous “command node” capabilities, integrating counter-drone systems like the Coyote Block 3 to survive the high-attrition, drone-saturated environments seen in Ukraine.
The U.S. Army Has a New Weapons Problem to Fix
The collapse of the once-promising M10 Booker “light tank,” coupled with the vulnerabilities that main battle tanks have been encountering in Ukraine, has prompted the U.S. to accelerate and refine several of its major land-warfare combat platforms in response to a changing threat landscape.
The U.S. Army’s Bradley is aging, tanks are proving highly vulnerable in major combat in Ukraine, and the service has just recently fielded its first ground-launched Long Range Hypersonic Weapon.
The M10 Booker was intended to be “airdropped” quickly from a C-17 cargo plane in support of fast-attacking infantry.
However, the Army’s ambitious vision for the M10 Booker collided with practical reality, and the final platform was too heavy to be airdropped. This predicament, which was entirely at odds with the vehicle’s initial requirement, is cited as the main reason the car was cancelled.
The idea was to engineer the M10 Booker to operate in close support of airborne operations and to bring organic heavy fire support to air-dropped “forcible entry” missions to seize enemy territory from the air.
A live fire demonstration of the Army’s newest and most modernized combat vehicle, the M10 Booker, marks the conclusion of the M10 Booker Dedication Ceremony at Aberdeen Proving Ground, in Aberdeen, Md., April 18, 2024. (U.S. Army photo by Cpl. Jonathon Downs)
PD1 – Delivery of First Production Vehicle M10 Booker Combat Vehicle. Image Credit: U.S. Army.
This is likely why the U.S. Army previously planned to first deploy the M10 Booker with the 82nd Airborne unit in 2025. This vision crashed into a different reality when the Army recognized that the 38-ton M10 Booker was simply too heavy to air-drop from a C-130 and that only one could fit into a C-17.
XM30 Infantry Fighting Vehicle
The aging Bradley has been yet another challenge for U.S. Army modernization. While there have been successful upgrades to the Bradley, the service is fast-tracking the XM30 Bradley replacement infantry fighting vehicle.
The Army’s evolving XM30 replacement infantry fighting vehicle can be configured to operate as a command-and-control node, controlling groups of unmanned systems in combat, or to engage in direct combat with its cannon, anti-tank weapons, and an infantry squad ready to dismount and attack.The Army is currently testing and evaluating prototype XM30s from both American Rheinmetall and General Dynamics Land Systems in preparation for what will ultimately be a “down-select” and production contract for the vehicles.
Throughout the developmental process, the U.S. Army has been gathering feedback from soldiers in experimental exercises and conducting a wide range of operational tests to refine requirements and establish performance parameters.
The M10 Booker Combat Vehicle proudly displays its namesake on the gun tube during the Army Birthday Festival at the National Museum of the U.S. Army, June 10, 2023. The M10 Booker Combat Vehicle is named after two American service members: Pvt. Robert D. Booker, who posthumously received the Medal of Honor for actions in World War II, and Staff Sgt. Stevon A. Booker, who posthumously received the Distinguished Service Cross for actions during Operation Iraqi Freedom. Their stories and actions articulate the Army’s need for the M10 Booker Combat Vehicle, an infantry assault vehicle that will provide protection and lethality to destroy threats like the ones that took the lives of these two Soldiers. (U.S. Army photo by Bernardo Fuller)
M10 Booker. Image Credit: Creative Commons.
Designers will engineer the vehicle to operate autonomously and unmanned, meaning it can navigate and transit complex terrain, transport infantry, and perform sensing missions without needing human intervention.
The vehicle can also operate in a “semi-autonomous” fashion, meaning it can receive command-and-control input from human decision-makers, operate unmanned air and ground systems, and conduct high-risk reconnaissance missions under enemy fire.
Not surprisingly, much of the innovation being built into the vehicle relates to establishing the fire-control technologies, sensors, and optics, as well as protections and maneuverability, necessary to support future formations.
Previously called the “Optionally Manned Fighting Vehicle,” the Army’s Bradley replacement is referred to by weapons developers as engineered with a “soldier-centric” design intended to enhance soldier lethality in a new threat environment.
As for weapons applications, the two variants and the US Army’s lead weapons developers are likely exploring a range of cutting-edge requirements, including a Short-Range-Air-Defense-like counter-drone capability, such as a Stinger missile, and an ability to launch and recover advanced drones.
One possibility for American Rheinmetall could involve integrating a counter-drone, counter-air vehicle-launched drone made by one of their XM30 teammates, Raytheon’s Coyote.
Raytheon has been developing an advanced Block 2 Coyote, which includes a larger, optimized warhead with advanced tracking capabilities, as described by its developers.
Specific solutions being integrated are likely still being determined; however, both General Dynamics and ARV are likely to integrate and test a wide range of cutting-edge weapon systems, including drones, cannons, sensors, and counter-air systems. General Dynamics Land Systems, for example, has engineered several armored vehicles capable of launching and recovering surveillance and attack drones.
Future Tanks for the U.S. Army
The U.S. Army is also planning to stay lethal by massively upgrading its main battle tank and adjusting its tactics to align with a modern threat environment.
Operating air and ground drones in the line of enemy fire, sending large robotic vehicles to clear tank ditches and breach obstacles, and using long-range, high-fidelity sensors to maneuver and target enemies in more dispersed formations are all newer tactical mission possibilities now envisioned for the heavily armored Abrams main battle tank.
Army and industry innovators are working on ways to integrate new technologies and tactics designed to enable a new generation of tank platforms to remain lethal in a new post-Ukraine-war threat environment.
While an armored ability to deliver massive firepower, unparalleled survivability, and mechanized assault missions still very much characterizes the operational scope of Army tanks, technology, networking, and unmanned systems are expanding their potential combat applications, thereby multiplying or enhancing their impact on warfare.
Army M1E3 Abrams
These are likely among the many reasons why the Army is now fully immersed in its M1E3 Abrams Tank Modernization Program, featuring a next-generation variant.
After acquiring large numbers of the massively upgraded M1A2 SEP v3, the Army appears to be “skipping” over its M1A2 SEP v4 variant in favor of the emerging M1E3.
About the Author: Kris Osborn
Kris Osborn is the President of Warrior Maven – Center for Military Modernization. Osborn previously served at the Pentagon as a highly qualified expert in the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army—Acquisition, Logistics & Technology. Osborn has also worked as an anchor and on-air military specialist at national TV networks. He has appeared as a guest military expert on Fox News, MSNBC, The Military Channel, and The History Channel. He also has a Masters Degree in Comparative Literature from Columbia University.
