US Army to Continue Deploying Abrams Tank While Developing Next-Gen Armored Platforms

Video Above: Army Research Lab Advances AI to Land Drones on Tanks

By Kris Osborn – President & Editor-In-Chief, Warrior Maven

Supporting advancing infantry with mechanized support, bringing heavy firepower to armored confrontation and “holding ground” are all critical missions performed by heavily armored Abrams tanks, a tactical circumstance which is unlikely to change in the near and mid-term future.

Abrams Tank

That is the view of many senior Army futurists and weapons developers, who now pursue a dual pronged path involving efforts to upgrade and evolve the Abrams tank and also explore possibilities of building lighter weight, faster and more expeditionary armored platforms.

“I do still think you need something that does what a tank does on the battlefield,” Mr. Douglas Bush, Assistant Secretary of the Army – Acquisition, Logistics and Technology, told Warrior in an interview.

Some of the cutting edge efforts involve rapid development of unmanned systems and robotic vehicles able to operate in dangerous forward positions exposed to enemy fire without placing soldiers at risk. 

Other work involves the maturation and ongoing testing of lighter-weight composite materials intended to provide Abrams-like protections with advanced combinations of materials.