Welcome to Abrams after the battle

M1A1’s fresh from the Gulf War

Photos by Richard Herrington
Text by Richard Herrington and Andrew Martin

The crews of America's primary battle tank, the M1A1 Abrams, rarely get to show what they are made of.

Yet in one of the shortest ground wars ever fought the M1A1 did its job very well. That job? Kill Iraqi armor.

While most of us are used to seeing M1A1’s in factory fresh paint jobs these pictures were taken directly upon their return from the Gulf at Fort Hood, Texas.

M1A1 History

The first M-1 tanks were delivered to the U.S.Army on February 28, 1980. The new tank was named for the late General Creighton W. Abrams, former Army Chief of Staff and commander of the 37th Armored Battalion.

As delivered the M-1 mounted:

• The M68E1 105 millimeter main gun,

• Two 7.62mm NATO M240 machine guns, one mounted coaxially with the main gun, the other on top of the turret at the loader's station.

• A .50 caliber Browning M2 HB machine gun is mounted at the commander's station for anti-aircraft defense.

The M-1A1, first delivered in August 1985, mounts the M256 smoothbore Rheinmetall main gun developed in West Germany. M-1A1 upgrades also involved enhanced armor protection and a new nuclear-biological-chemical warfare protection system.

The Abrams hull and turret are built of a material similar to the ceramic-and-steel-plate Chobham armor developed in Britain. Armor plate separates the crew compartment from the fuel tanks and ammunition storage area.

With a kerb side weight of 63 tons the M-1A1 can still attain a top speed of 45 miles per hour. The tank is 26 feet long, 12 feet wide, and eight feet high. Range is however, limited to 290 miles.

In combat with the Iraqi tanks the Abrams on average outranged an Iraqi tank by about 1,000 meters.