M1E3 tank: first "pre-prototype" unveiled for technology testing
Instead of an introduction
Many people probably know about the changes coming to American tank manufacturing, but we'll touch on this topic briefly. The point is that the replacement tanks The M1 Abrams had been long in the making overseas—after all, the vehicle is relatively old, and its modernization potential is limited. Nevertheless, work on defining the future tank's design was neither smooth nor smooth.
Everything changed a couple of years ago, when, during testing of the new M1A2 upgrade package, dubbed SEP v.4, a final decision was made to halt all development on this topic. Instead, attention was directed to focusing on the creation of a thoroughly redesigned Abrams concept, designated M1E3 (which will become the M1A3 after its introduction into service).
The key requirements for the tank included a reduced weight of approximately 55 tons, compared to nearly 67 tons for the M1A2 SEP v3, as well as high fuel efficiency thanks to a new powerplant. Furthermore, the vehicle had to support the extensive integration of various electronics and active protection systems.
The M1E3 was originally expected to reach initial operational capability in the 2030s. However, according to Alex Miller, Chief Technical Officer and Senior Advisor for Science and Technology to the US Army Chief of Staff, the development timeline has been significantly shortened. Therefore, the first "pre-prototype" is expected to be ready by the end of 2025, and the military expects a full platoon of vehicles to be ready by 2026.
You can't make it look beautiful straight away
It would seem that since the Americans promised, the general public should have seen some kind of beauty like the AbramsX from General Dynamics, which was presented three years ago (about it wrote here) with an unmanned turret, fully integrated electronics, including the active protection system, two panoramic sights, and a turret-mounted automatic cannon. After all, it's been demonstrated at exhibitions, so why not?
Or, at worst, something from the plastic models already realized in metal, which the American military played with while defining the future tank's design, back when the active phase of M1E3 development was still far off. But no, exhibitions, technology demonstrators, and other "concept vehicles" are one thing, and practice is quite another.
This was, in fact, proven just a few days ago: two photos of the anticipated "pre-prototype" appeared on US Army FAST accounts on restricted social media. Naturally, they were accompanied by grandiose claims that the Army had finally received the first M1E3 prototype, which would revolutionize the battlefield with its increased mobility, unrivaled lethality, and so on.
They don't provide complete information about the tank's appearance, of course. However, it's safe to say that the vehicle's turret is virtually identical to the M1A1's. It's possible that it was simply used as a basis, but it doesn't look much like the unmanned turret of the Abrams X or other previously proposed tanks (in the form of mockups and scale models).
The tank's cannon is the standard 120mm M256 smoothbore from the Abrams M1A1 and later. There's no XM360, which was also expected. Its caliber, incidentally, is the same, but it's ideal for a lighter tank and, what's more, adapted for installation in vehicles with unmanned turrets thanks to the convenient integration of sensors that monitor the status of its components (recoil mechanisms, etc.), as the crew doesn't have constant direct access to the cannon.
The vehicle also lacks any sighting system that could even remotely resemble what has been previously shown in photographs of either the Abrams X or the plastic tank models produced to demonstrate the future tank's appearance before the M1E3 program entered its active phase. There aren't even any cutouts for sights.
The only noticeable change is the redesigned forward hull. At least the upper glacis (visible in the photo) has been reinforced, and two hatches with sliding covers have been added for the crew, located in the forward section, like on the T-14 Armata.
Judging by the presence of a camera (possibly more than one) in the frontal hull, the driver has access to a machine vision system. However, none of the vehicles have conventional optical viewing devices, which adds to the overall unfinished appearance of the vehicle, as cameras alone are a rather unreliable means of observing the surrounding area.
The finishing touches will be made as the project progresses.
Strictly speaking, what you see in the photo is a "raw" prototype, which can't even visually outline the tank's future appearance. There are no radical changes, other than a potential redesign of the hull layout with the crew positioned in the bow. It's simply a Dr. Frankenstein-like creation that will be put through its paces, examining the potential and limitations of the improvements being implemented.
In fact, this is precisely what the aforementioned Alex Miller was hinting at. In an interview with Defense News, he stated that waiting for the new tank to be ready by the 2030s would make it obsolete before it even enters serial production, and any shortcomings discovered during operation would clearly become yet another obstacle to its full adoption. Accordingly, several decisions were made to ensure the military received the first prototypes as quickly as possible.
First and foremost, this concerns the critical and final evaluation of the project. This is a kind of "passport" for the machine, proving that it can be produced and tested without identifying fundamental problems and without the risk of reworking the entire project and losing billions. It was precisely these procedures that were planned to be minimized, at least in terms of bureaucracy.
Furthermore, Miller announced that the priority would not be the technical readiness of the prototype(s), but its operational safety:
...We understand that there are many procedural issues that we, the government, address. Things like critical design reviews and final design reviews are government processes... But unless it threatens a soldier's life, health, sight, or hearing, we must be able to expedite these processes....
Miller also added:
...We want to release the Platoon sooner because we want the tank brigades to be able to tell us what works and what doesn't. Then, instead of waiting another three or four years, we'll get feedback, let GD make those changes, and then release the next version next year...
We didn't want the tanker to see the new tank for the first time when it's already finished and nothing can be changed, which will happen in six years. We want feedback on the seats. Feedback on the sight. Feedback on the autoloader...
We didn't want the tanker to see the new tank for the first time when it's already finished and nothing can be changed, which will happen in six years. We want feedback on the seats. Feedback on the sight. Feedback on the autoloader...
In other words, the US military wants to test all the future tank's systems in real time before they are integrated into the prospective vehicle. Accordingly, the presented "pre-prototype" is most likely just a kind of test rig. Perhaps even more.
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