New AbramsX — AI-Enabled, Fuel-Efficient, Unmanned Turret & “Silent” Attack

*This article is being republished due to viewer interest.

By Kris Osborn, President, Center for Military Modernization

Controlling ground robots, unmanned platforms and attack drones, networking target data with stealth fighter jets and forward troops, destroying enemy vehicles with precision-guided, course-correcting ammunition and processing massive amounts of otherwise disparate streams of incoming data in seconds … are all things the Army’s future main battle tank will need to do against advanced enemies.

AbramsX

A new, 60-ton, AI-enabled, fuel efficient hybrid electric main battle tank armed with dual 360-degree thermal sights, next-generation ammunition and a lethal, unmanned turret has blasted onto the scene as a “demonstrator” offering for the US Army…just as the service surges forward with technological, conceptual and tactical analysis regarding the future of heavy armor.

The new AbramsX, recently unveiled by General Dynamics Land Systems at the Association of the United States Army Annual Symposium, blends key elements of combat-tested heavy armor with new, potentially paradigm-changing innovations designed to propel tactical and combat capabilities for the Abrams tank decades into the future.

The emergence of the new GDLS Abrams variant aligns closely with ongoing Army analysis and experimentation regarding how best to adapt technology, unmanned systems, maneuver formations and highly survivable heavy mechanized platforms such as the AbramsX to a new threat environment. While many questions, one clear thing the Army welcomes with great enthusiasm and resolve … is innovation.

“It’s too early to say what the future of the Army’s battle tank is going to be. What I can tell you is that, you know, we are looking down the road, you know, what, what are the investments that we need to make, you know, what is currently the art of the possible and I think, as AFC continues to do experimentation through the Next Generation Combat Vehicle CFT, and we will begin to extract some lessons learned,” Under Secretary of the Army Gabe Camarillo, told Warrior in an interview.

While the Army is often careful not to take a specific position on a particular industry offering such as the AbramsX, the service is intensely committed to the kinds of innovation presented by the AbramsX.