M1 Abrams
The M1 Abrams is an American third-generation main battle tank produced by the United States. It is named after General Creighton Abrams, former Army Chief of Staff and Commander of U.S. military forces in theVietnam War from 1968 to 1972. Highly mobile, designed for modern armored ground warfare, the M1 is well armed and heavily armored. Notable features include the use of a powerful multifuel turbine engine, the adoption of sophisticated composite armor, and separate ammunition storage in a blow-out compartment for crew safety. Weighing nearly 68 short tons (almost 62 metric tons), it is one of the heaviest main battle tanks in service.
The M1 Abrams entered U.S. service in 1980, replacing the M60 tank. It served for over a decade alongside the improved M60A3, which had entered service in 1978. The M1 remains the principal main battle tank of theUnited States Army and Marine Corps, and the armies of Egypt, Kuwait, SaudiArabia, Australia and Iraq. Three main versions of the M1 Abrams have been deployed, the M1, M1A1, and M1A2, incorporating improved armament, protection and electronics. These improvements and other upgrades to in-service tanks, have allowed this long-serving vehicle to remain in front-line service. In addition, development for the improved M1A3 version has been known since 2009.
The M1 Abrams was developed during the Cold War as a successor to the canceled MBT-70. The M1 Abrams contract went to Chrysler Defense and was the first vehicle to adopt Chobham armor. Adaptations before the Persian Gulf War (Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm) gave the vehicle better firepower and NBC (Nuclear, Biological and Chemical) protection. Being vastly superior to Iraqi tanks, very few M1 tanks were hit by enemy fire. Upgrades after the war improved the tank's weapons sights and fire control unit. The invasion of Iraq in 2003 destroyed Iraq's military. The subsequent insurgency exposed the tanks' vulnerability to rocket-propelled grenades and mines. These problems were partially rectified with the TUSK modification. The Marine Corps sent a company of M1A1 Abrams to Afghanistan in late 2010.
Bradley Fighting Vehicle
The Bradley is designed to transport infantry or scouts with armor protection, while providing covering fire to suppress enemy troops and armored vehicles. There are several Bradley variants, including the M2 Bradleyinfantry fighting vehicle and the M3 Bradley cavalry fighting vehicle. The M2 holds a crew of three (a commander, a gunner and a driver) as well as six fully equipped soldiers. The M3 mainly conducts scout missions and carries two scouts in addition to the regular crew of three, with space for additional TOW missiles. The Red River Army Depot in Texarkana, Texas is the CITE Center of Industrial Technical Excellence for the maintenance and repair of the Bradley system.
The Bradley was developed largely in response to the Soviet BMP family of infantry fighting vehicles, and to serve as both an armored personnel carrier (APC), and a tank-killer. One specific design requirement was that it should be as fast as the then new M1 Abrams main battle tank so that they could maintain formations while moving.
The M2/M3's primary armament is a 25 mm cannon that fires up to 200 rounds per minute and is accurate up to 2500 m, depending on the ammunition used. It is also armed with twin missile launchers for TOW antitank missiles. The missiles, capable of destroying most tanks out to a maximum range of 3,750 metres (12,300 ft), can only be fired while the vehicle is stationary. The Bradley also carries a coaxial 7.62 mm medium machine gun, located to the right of the 25 mm chain gun. The Bradley is equipped with the M242 25 mm chain gun as its main weapon. The M242 has a single barrel with an integrated dual-feed mechanism and remote feed selection
The Bradley Fighting Vehicle (BFV) is an American fighting vehicle platform manufactured by BAE Systems Land and Armaments, formerly United Defense. It was named after U.S. General Omar Bradley.
The gun contains ammunition in two ready boxes of 70 rounds and 230 rounds each for a total of 300 ready rounds and carries 600 rounds in storage (in the M2 Infantry Fighting Vehicle variant) or 1200 stowed rounds (in the M3 Cavalry Fighting Vehicle variant). The two ready boxes allow a selectable mix of rounds, such as the M791 APDS-T (Armor-Piercing Discarding Sabot (with) Tracer) and M792 HEI-T (High Explosive Incendiary (with) Tracer) rounds. The tungsten APDS-T rounds proved highly effective in Desert Storm, being capable of knocking out many Iraqi vehicles including several kills on T-55 tanks. There have even been reports of kills against Iraqi T-72 tanks at close range.[citation needed] Subsequent ammunition developments resulted in the M919 APFSDS-T (Armor-Piercing Fin Stabilized Discarding Sabot with Tracer) round, which contains a finned depleted uranium penetrator similar in concept to armor piercing munitions used in modern tanks. The M919 was used in combat during the 2003 invasion phase of Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF).
M113 armored personnel carrier
The M113 is a fully tracked armored personnel carrier that was developed by Food Machinery Corp (FMC). The vehicle was first fielded by the United States Army's mechanized infantry units in Vietnam in April 1962. The M113 was the most widely used armored vehicle of the U.S. Army in the Vietnam War, earning the nickname 'Green Dragon' by the Viet Cong as it was used to break through heavy thickets in the midst of the jungle to attack and overrun enemy positions, but largely known as an APC and ACAV (armored cavalry assault vehicle) by the allied forces.
The M113 introduced new aluminum armor that made the vehicle much lighter than earlier vehicles; it was thick enough to protect the crew and passengers against small arms fire but light enough that the vehicle was air transportable and moderately amphibious. In the U.S. Army, the M113 series have long been replaced as front-line combat vehicles by the M2 and M3 Bradley, but large numbers are still used in support roles such as armored ambulance, mortar carrier, engineer vehicle, command vehicle, etc. The Army's Heavy Brigade Combat Teams are equipped with around 6,000 M113s and 4,000 Bradleys.
The M113's versatility spawned a wide variety of adaptations that live on worldwide, and in U.S. service. These variants together represent about half of U.S. Army armored vehicles today. To date, it is estimated that over 80,000 M113s of all types have been produced and used by over 50 countries worldwide, making it one of the most widely used armored fighting vehicles of all time. The Military Channel's "Top Ten" series named the M113 the most significant infantry vehicle in history. The U.S. Army planned to retire the M113 family of vehicles by 2018, seeking replacement with the GCV Infantry Fighting Vehicle program, but now replacement of the M113 has fallen to the Armored Multi-Purpose Vehicle (AMPV) program.
The M113 was developed by Food Machinery Corp. (FMC), which had produced the earlier M59 and M75 Armored personnel carriers. The M113 bore a very strong resemblance to both of these earlier vehicles. The M75 was too heavy and expensive to be useful; its weight prevented amphibious capability, and being transported by air.
International MaxxPro
The International MaxxPro MRAP (Mine Resistant Ambush Protected) vehicle is an armored fighting vehicledesigned by American company Navistar International's subsidiary Navistar Defense along with the IsraeliPlasan Sasa, who designed and manufactures the vehicle's armor. The vehicle was designed to take part in the US Military's Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicle program, led by the US Marine Corps, as well as a similar US Army-led Medium Mine Protected Vehicle program.
MRAPs are categorized as category 1 or category 2, depending on usage and passenger compartment space, and Navistar produces the MaxxPro in both sizes, although the vast majority of those sold have been category 1 MRAPs. The MaxxPro Plus model comes with dual rear wheels for increased load carrying capacity, such as an ambulance or EFP protected variant. The latest model produced is the MaxxPro Dash, which is a smaller and lighter category 1 model. Both the Plus and Dash models use the MaxxForce 10 engine with 375 hp, in place of the DT 530 with 330 hp, used in the original base model produced.
The MaxxPro utilizes a crew capsule with a V-shaped hull, mounted on an International WorkStar 7000 chassis. The V-hull deflects the blast of a land mine or improvised explosive device (IED) away from the vehicle to protect its occupants. Because the chassis is mounted outside the armored crew capsule, there are concerns that it will likely be destroyed in the event of an ambush, leaving the soldiers inside stranded. However, according to Navistar Defense spokesperson Roy Wiley, the MaxxPro "did extremely well during the tests, and we are extremely pleased." This design may prove as effective as the Krauss-Maffei Wegmann ATF Dingothat uses a similar design, one which mounts an armored capsule to a Unimog chassis. This design has survived a 7 kg (15 lb) land mine blast with no injuries.
According to Navistar Defense, the vehicle is designed with operational readiness in mind and utilizes standardized, easily available parts, to ensure rapid repair and maintenance. The armored body is bolted together instead of welded, as in other MRAPs. This facilitates repair in the field and is a contributing factor to Navistar's greater production capacity for the MaxxPro.
In 2010, the Army initiated a development effort to add electronic stability control (ESC), a computerized technology designed to improve vehicle stability, to the MaxxPro. The MaxxPro's high ground clearance provides greater protection from underbody blasts, but also raises its center of gravity, causing rollovers in certain situations. The ESC combines road factors, vehicle data, and driver intent to automatically correct driving to ensure stability during maneuvers. Installation on MaxxPros began in late 2014 and is to be completed by late 2017, with other MRAPs planned to have ESC integrated onto them.I'm a paragraph. Click here to add your own text and edit me. I’m a great place for you to tell a story and let your users know a little more about you.
Humvee
The High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle (HMMWV), commonly known as the Humvee, is a four-wheel drive military automobile produced by AM General. It has largely supplanted the roles originally performed by the original jeep, and newer Military light utility vehicles such as the Vietnam-era M151 1/4 ton, theM561 "Gama Goat", their M718A1 and M792 ambulance versions, the CUCV, and other light trucks.
Primarily used by the United States military, it is also used by numerous other countries and organizations and even in civilian adaptations. The Humvee's widespread use in the Persian Gulf War, where it negotiated the treacherous desert sand with ease, helped inspire the civilian Hummer automotive marque.
Since the WWII era Bantam Reconnaissance Car, the United States Army had relied on jeeps to transport small groups of soldiers. The jeep was built around a requirement for a compact vehicle with a folding windshield that was actually shorter than the Volkswagen Beetle. It seated three with a 660 lb (300 kg) payload and weighed just over one ton. By the 1970s, the U.S. Army had tried larger militarized civilian trucks, but even these no longer satisfied newer requirements. In 1977, Lamborghini developed the Cheetah model in an attempt to meet the Army contract specifications.
In 1979, the U.S. Army drafted final specifications for a High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle, or HMMWV, which was to replace all the tactical vehicles in the 1/4 to 1 1/4-ton range, namely the M151 andM561 Gamma Goat, as one "jack-of-all-trades" light tactical vehicle to perform the role of several existing trucks. The specification called for excellent on and off-road performance, the ability to carry a large payload, and improved survivability against indirect fire. Compared to the jeep, it was larger and had a much wider track, with a 16 in (410 mm) ground clearance, double that of most sport-utility vehicles. The new vehicle was to climb a 60 percent incline and traverse a 40 percent slope. The air intake was to be mounted flush on top of the right fender (or to be raised on a stovepipe to roof level to ford 5 ft (1.5 m) of water and electronics waterproofed to drive through 2.5 ft (0.76 m) of water were specified. The radiator was to be mounted high, sloping over the engine on a forward-hinged hood.
Out of 61 companies that showed interest, only three submitted prototypes. In July 1979, AM General (a subsidiary of American Motors Corporation) began preliminary design work. Less than a year later, the first prototype was in testing; Chrysler Defense and Teledyne Continental also produced competing designs.
In June 1981, the Army awarded AM General a contract for development of several more prototype vehicles to be delivered to the government for another series of tests. The original M998 A0 series had a curb weight of 5,200 lb (2,400 kg). with a payload of 2,500 lb (1,100 kg), with a 6.2 L (380 cu in) V-8 diesel engine and a three-speed automatic transmission.
