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Provides an in-depth look at the M1 Abrams Main Battle Tank, with detailed cross-section diagrams, photographs, and additional facts and information.
The Ml Abrams has proved itself to be the finest main battle tank in the World since its introduction into US Army service in 1981. It combines the ultimate balance between firepower, mobility and protection as demonstrated by its superior performance during the two Gulf Wars and in Afghanistan. It routed the Soviet equipment of Saddam Hussein's army and today remains the yardstick by which friends' and foes' MBTs are judged. Its versatility and continual modernisation of weaponry armour and engineering guarantees that the MI Abrams will remain the US Army's spearpoint for years to come. Expert author Michael Green has produced a comprehensive collection of images and highly informed text.
"Since the 1980s, the American M1 Abrams series of tanks has been widely regarded as among the finest main battle tanks in the world. This volume is a concise look at the background, development, and Army and Marine operational history of the Abrams from the 1970s to the present. The author, who brings a unique perspective and authority as a former M1A1 tank gunner with the United States Army's 1/104th Cavalry, was granted behind-the-scenes access to photograph the US Army's collection of rare tanks at Fort Benning, Georgia. He also shows the Abrams tank's service in lesser known places--not just Iraq and Afghanistan--such as Cold War Germany, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Somalia, and others. Part of the Legends of Warfare series." --Publisher description.
The American M1 Abrams main battle tank is a revolutionary design: it broke an evolutionary development lineage from the M20 medium tank of 1941 to the M60 (which it replaced, and which stayed in production until 1987). The M1 remains the only main battle tank in the inventories of the US Army and the US Marine Corps, with years of service to come, while no replacement has been procured. It is believed that the M1 will easily serve for more than 50 years in the US alone. The US retains about 6,000 M1s, while almost 2,000 are in use with the armies of other countries including Australia, Egypt, Iraq, Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia.
The M1 Abrams was the most radical departure in US tank design since World War II. Until the advent of the M1 in the early 1980s, the US Army had relied on the steady evolution of the M26 Pershing tank, through the M46, M47, M48 and M60. The M1 design came at a time when there were a host of important new tank technologies coming to fruition, in terms of structure and weaponry: these were integrated into it. This book details the design, development and operational use of one of the world's best main battle tanks.
The Gulf War bore witness to a number of deadly encounters between these two great adversaries. Heavily armoured, highly mobile and capable of killing at over 2500m the M1 Abrams is, to this day, a veritable fighting machine. Superior to both Iraq's Soviet era T-55 and T-62 tanks, nearly all sources claim that no Abrams tank has ever been destroyed by enemy fire. Despite entering service in 1980, the M1 Abrams remained untested in combat until the Gulf War in 1991, where it was to be confronted by its archenemy the Iraqi-assembled Soviet-designed T-72. Entering production in 1971, the T-72 arguably outstripped its contemporaries in a balance of mobility, protection and firepower. By the time of Operation Desert Storm, however, the tables had turned and the tank suffered due to low quality ammunition and poorly trained crews. In this fascinating study, Steven Zaloga pits these two great fighting machines against one another, plotting the development of the Cold War until both tanks met in combat in the deserts of Iraq and Kuwait.
This ambitious entry in R.P. Hunnicutt's 10-volume compendium of American tank history details the development of the Patton tanks, including the M60 series as well as other vehicles based on the tank chassis or employing other elements of the tank's design. First developed in the period between WWII and the Korean War, various iterations of the Patton armored military vehicle have served as a crucial component of American military operations in all manner of engagements. Hunnicutt spares no detail as he examines the origins and deployment of the M46 and M47 in the early days of the Cold War and for the duration of the Korean War. As the conflict escalated, increasing numbers of Patton tanks were deployed in Korea and many remained after the armistice to protect the tenuous agreement. Developed to replace the M47 Patton and M4 Sherman, the M48 Patton main battle tank boasted a variety of technical improvements and was relied upon heavily throughout the Vietnam War, with over 600 individual tanks deployed alongside U.S. forces during the war. Hunnicutt provides detailed technical information about these vehicles and their role in the U.S. Army and Marines. The M60 product-improved descendant of the Patton tanks and its many variations is also treated with exacting detail by Hunnicutt, who takes us through the numerous and important variations on the Patton design. Spanning the history of America's most widely used main battle tank, Hunnicutt's "Patton" is an absolute must-have for anyone interested in the history of the American military. Richard Pearce Hunnicutt (1926-2011) enlisted in the 7th Infantry Division in 1944 and in 1945 was promoted to sergeant and awarded the Silver Star for his heroic actions. After WWII, Hunnicutt earned a Masters in engineering from Stanford University under the GI Bill. In addition to being one of the most respected metallurgists in California, Hunnicutt wrote the definitive 10-volume history of the development and employment of American armored vehicles. As a tank historian and leading expert in the field, Hunnicutt was one of the founders of the US Army Ordnance Museum at Aberdeen Proving Ground, MD and was a close friend and frequent contributor to the Patton Museum at Fort Knox, KY.
