seen from United States
seen from Belgium
seen from Saudi Arabia

seen from Malaysia
seen from Sweden
seen from China
seen from United States

seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from France
seen from Bangladesh
seen from China
seen from United Arab Emirates
seen from Pakistan
seen from Czechia
seen from Netherlands
seen from Norway
seen from Martinique

seen from Martinique
seen from India
Various ground vehicles, including: M4 Sherman, M48 Patton, M60 Patton, M110 Howitzer, M2 Bradley, M109 Howitzer, M578 LARV, DUKW-353, and M1 Abrams Taken: 8/13/24
Less of an ID here, but what are your thoughts on the AbramsX, both as a platform as whole, and what technologies from it do you think will show up on future upgrades to the Abrams?
Oh boy, the Abrams X tech demo.
AKA: "Oh, so that's what the FCS program was for."
I have a lot of thoughts on the Abrams X, so, if you don't care to read all that, I'll leave a tl;dr at the bottom, in case someone wants to know my opinion without wanting to know why I have that opinion (for some reason.)
The Abrams X incorporates a lot of technology that excites me an awful lot. However, there are three things that stick out the most, so I'm gonna talk about them:
#1. The engine. The Abrams X uses a hybrid diesel engine (designed by Cadillac, if I remember correctly), which is a massive improvement over the current Abrams' gas turbine, which is less fuel efficient than just about every other MBT around. The new engine solves this problem by both switching to a hybrid design, which has greater performance, lesser noise, and lesser fuel consumption.
2. The turret/gun. It's remotely controlled, and miles better than the current m256, being lighter and even further integrated into optics/targeting. While I expect the real next-gen tanks to be equipping larger bore guns (in response to Russia and China looking to up-gun their next-gen MBTs), this Cannon is a fantastic intermediate step, and a great test bed/proof of concept for a remote-operated, auto-loading turret. This also drops the required crew down to 3, which may not seem like a big deal, but actually represents some pretty big stuff.
3. The integration. Ah, the "system of systems", come at last. Full integration to a combat network of drones, CAS fighters, other tanks, and in the future, perhaps fully autonomous ground vehicles. This is the thing that excites me most, as it means a truly massive level of integration and cooperation between every element of a combined arms forces, allowing every part to operate at a greater capacity. I've actually spoken with M1 tankers, and they seem most excited about the new Airplane-style helmets, and the level of coordination and targeting and spotting ability supplied by integrated drones.
However, it's not all sunshine and roses. With any massive leap forward in technology, this introduces a thousand thousand new potential points of failure into the system of every Abrams tank, which can cost lives when it counts. In addition, concerns have been expressed over the lowered crew count, saying that three people is not a reasonable number to expect to service and maintain a tank of the Abrams size out in the field, even with the supposed lower maintenance requirements of the Abrams X. Additionally, the smaller crew size and heavier focus on technology could indicate a shift in American tank ideology, towards the tanks being put out by other geopolitical powers, like China, Russia, and others.
So, to summarize, (here's that TL;DR I was talking about.) I think the Abrams is an incredibly promising test bed that is the culmination of the 1999-2009 Future Combat Systems program, and am excited to see how the technology will develop into the next generation of MBTs. However, I am cautious, as I can see several possible downsides to a lower crew size and a heavier reliance on tech.
BIDEN GAVE TOP U.S. MILITARY TECH TO MOSCOW
Look what's on display in Moscow:
And, sure, it's Russian propaganda but there's no denying that the Russians now own tons (literally "tons") of top grade western military hardware, all paid for by Joe Biden.
Well. All paid for by the American people, but Joe Biden spent it against our wishes...
And, again, this is not a totally unbiased video produced by some random tourist. The audio is "Wrong" at points, WAY too clean for some vBlogger with a selfie stick.
But these are western vehicles, that is an American Abrams tank, and it's all sitting in Moscow being laughed at by the Russian people...
"Thanks for the military technology, Biden!"
Какая прелесть
Опять «Абрамс», теперь уже на Красной площади (точнее, на её руинах)
Автор: Darius Abromaitis
🇷🇺⚔️🇺🇦🇺🇲 🚨
RUSSIAN FORCES HUNT DOWN ANOTHER U.S.-MADE ABRAMS TANK IN UKRAINE
📹 Footage from a Russian FPV drone as it hunts down and targets yet another American-made Abrams main battle tank (MBT) belonging to the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU).
It is unclear from the video whether the tank was just damaged or destroyed by the drone strike, however, several Abrams MBT's have already been destroyed by the Russian military.
#source
@WorkerSolidarityNews
- Hava mı? Hava güzel kızım burda, arada bi çıkıp temizlik yapıyoruz, öyle...
Adding 250 of the advanced tanks would be a huge boost to the Polish Land Forces as they seek to match Russian developments.
(..) Unlike many other European nations, Poland has not made significant reductions to its tank forces following the end of the Cold War. Instead, it has remained focused on the possibility of having to counter a Russian armored attack. While Poland does not share a border with ‘mainland Russia,’ it does share a frontier with the heavily militarized Russian exclave of Kaliningrad and with Belarus, a close Russian military ally(..)
P.S. Very good news! For Eastern European countries are best to use domestic products or weapon systems made in America, South Korea, UK and Israel to modernize their armies. The "old" European countries have in fact sabotaged Europe's defense capabilities in the face of Kremlin aggression; their military budgets are still small (many fail to deliver on their promise to meet NATO's minimum budget requirements; many European politicians still live in the naïve illusion that it is possible to negotiate and do business with bloody dictatorships); and new equipment is being bought in such small quantities that each item is too expensive. It is better to avoid from French and German made weapons until they will not start taking European military capabilities more seriously ....