When it became eminent the M60 mbt could no longer challenge the new soviet armor such as the T-72 and T-80, development of the M1 abrams Main Battle Tank was already under way. Many times before had such developments been haunted by cost overruns and Congressional scepticism. This time was no different and by early 1976 when the first prototypes became available, this weapon system was long overdue. Finaly, in late 1979, most of the development problems were solved and the M1 was ready to go into production. The squared off appearance and low profile of the M1 contrasted totally with all former us Army developments and could be called revolutionary. The hull structure was designed to ensure crew survivability and provide protection for internally mounted equipment against a broad spectrum of antitank weapons. The hull armor configuration consists of a weld-fabricated rolled homogeneous armor (RHA) structure with armor protecting the front and sides of the crew areas. Fuel and main weapon ammo are separated from the crew in armored compartments. The hull ammo compartment is located aft of the engine bulkhead on the right side and separated from the crew area bv sliding armor doors. The same protection is installed in front of the turret bustle ammo room which is topped by blast panels channeling an explosion upward. The M1 is operated by a four men crew consisting of a driver, commander, loader and gunner, it is equipped with a 105mm M68E1 Rifled Cannon and a coaxial 7.62mm M240 Machinegun. The first Mi’s on German soil were operated by the 64th Armor, 3rd Infantry Division (Mechanized) in the fall of 1981.
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