US Army spending big on woke hybrid-electric Abrams

The Army is funding two competitors to build a new, lighter, Abrams tank, dubbed Abrams X.

The new tank will feature a hybrid electric drive and will permit a reduced crew size. It will have an auto-gun loader.

Lessons from the Ukraine war have illustrated a number of problems with today’s Abrams. So far the Russians have bagged eight of the tanks (and an even bigger number of German Leopards).

The existing Abrams is the world’s heaviest main battle tank, 76.3 tons. Powered by a fuel-hungry 1,500 horsepower gas turbine engine, the tank has had problems operating in Ukraine, frequently getting stuck in the mud or rolling into craters made by enemy artillery.

The Russians have found that the Abrams can be knocked out by drones, especially the Lancet, or destroyed by mines. It’s vulnerable to anti-tank weapons such as the RussianKornet.

The Ukrainians complain that on humid days the tank’s electronics fail, meaning it cannot be used in combat.

Each Abrams costs around $10 million out of the box. That does not include various add-ons, such as active protection. Nor does it include the cost of additional reactive armor, which is expensive and adds substantial weight.

An ultra heavy tank is also limited in where it can operate, since the tank’s weight and wide stance means it encounters difficulty with narrow bridges and congested urban streets.

The Abrams is not alone with this problem, but compared with other tanks it is the heaviest and widest.

For the past twenty to twenty-five years the Army has been working on a hybrid electric tank to replace both current Abrams alternatives :the gas turbine engine and the diesel engine alternatives. A hybrid tank would have at least two electric motors, lithium batteries and a diesel