How Many M1 Abrams Tanks Remain in US Inventory?

The M1 Abrams main battle tank is an aging system that is renewed through rebuild upgrades. Find out how many the US has left in inventory in this documentary about how these tanks are kept in long-term storage. Is the US running out of tanks? Can satellite imagery tell us how many are left? Watch this documentary to find out.

#m1abrams #history #tanks #army #usarmy

Running out of tanks. M1E3, Tank driving, tank drift, tank drifting, tank restoration, restoring tanks, rebuilding tanks.

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[Metalpanzerwolf]

I served on the Abrams series tanks in the 90s after a couple of years on the M60A3TTS. The Abrams was such an upgrade for me performance wise over the 60s. Its interesting to note that some countries are still rebuilding the M60s like we are the Abrams. This was an interesting video. I always like info on the rebuild process and wish videos like these were a bit longer with more footage of the actual rebuild process. Thanks!

[douglasmeek]

There are thousands in storage. All are being upgraded at General Dynamics in Lima eventually. The ones sent to Ukraine had all the highly secret components removed. They didn’t want anything secret falling in Russian hands. It’s still a great tank!

[johngaither]

The vast attrition rate of tanks, APCs, IFVs and fighting vehicles in modern warfare was first illustrated in the Yom Kippur war of 1973. 200 replacement tanks a week would be insufficient. It's come to the point the safest thing on the modern battlefield is the individual soldier in a foxhole. Drones are now changing that too.

[frankbaine]

Fascinating piece. If we can still keep B-52's & CH-47's in the air, I'm confident a thick-skinned land vehicle rebuild lifespan is significant.

[doyoueverwonder]

Went through the bear program in 1985 to be an M1 crewman or 19K. Awesome Tank. You couldn’t miss. The tank laser range finder gave you the distance had other gadgets that gave wind speed and direction. Gun would figure amount of lead. You locked the gun on the target so it followed it. My god you can’t miss. And that was the 105mm gun. When I left in 1987 the M1A2 just arrived. I honestly feel tanks are like battle ships. Becoming obsolete.

[chriswhite]

Tanks will not be obsolete any time soon. Drones are the newer threat, but even they can be countered.
For every measure, there is a countermeasure and a countermeasure for that. War just evolves.

[safetymikeengland]

seeing places like the Aniston Army Depot makes me wish I had gotten a job at a place like that a long time ago.
I think I would have enjoyed it.

[robertpatrick]

Those hulls would make great platforms for Gepard analogs. Even when these are no longer useful as MBT’s the hulls could be used for all sorts of other support vehicles…. Engineering… bridging….. etc

[donnien]

This looks like the tank range on Graf! Drifted my M-60 A3 TTS there many times in 4 years!

[DarrellWood-xl]

Tank's will never be obsolete!!!! Just keep getting better !!!!

[bobkonradi]

The total number that I saw was 4000 storage units of M1A1 Abrahams unit. That was a couple years ago.

[PaulFinestone-lq]

Trophy (Israel Defense Forces designation מעיל רוח, 'Windbreaker') is a protection system for military armored vehicles. It is termed an active protection system (APS) and is designed by Rafael Advanced Defense Systems. It is designed to supplement the standard armor of light and heavy armored fighting vehicles. The system is in active use on Merkava Mark 3 & 4 tanks and the Namer armored personnel carrier (APC). It is also found on the Abrams M1A1/2 tanks, and has been tested on Stryker APCs and Bradley Fighting Vehicles.

The Trophy system protects against a wide variety of anti-tank threats, while also enhancing the vehicle's ability to identify enemy locations. This plus multiple other drone kill systems leave the tanks as important on the battlefield in a combined arms setting. Running alone will be a hard no against both drones and missiles.

[adamsears]

As much as I loved my Tanks, It might have to go away like the Battleships of the Navy. Drones seem to be able to take out tanks and at a fraction of the cost. Unless the Army can mount some kind of Anti-Drone mass attack defensive system on each tank then there's no point in fielding this platform anymore. During Operation Enduring Freedom my tank unit deployed to Kuwait. The Army WISELY didn't send us to Afghanistan. Our guns couldn't elevate enough for the mountains. If it's a Tank on Tank battle there's no better system than the Abrams with a well trained crew. But the battlefield is changing.

[georgegraham]

I visited the plant in lima oh where they make these in the 80s. There has to be thousands of these in storage given that they were constantly upgraded for decades

[timsmith]

What mamy people do not seem to understand when talking about American tank on the battle field is that they are used in combination with other platforms. Abrams tanks in Ukraine do not have the benifit of all the assets American would bring into the fight and therfore are much more vulnerable.

[daveb]

I’m not sure if this is true, but someone once told me that if they can see a helicopter they can fire at them with the cannon. The targeting system is very similar to the contrast targeting that helicopters use, and there are multiple videos of helicopters successfully hitting drones with the autocannon using that contrast targeting system. The Abrams contrast targeting system can predict the trajectory of other vehicles, so it should be able to aim at drones moving at a reasonable speed. But it would require an airburst round. I’ve heard there is an airburst round in existence, but I’m not sure it’s actually deployed.

[_Dk]

In Tucson we have the Aircraft Boneyard with thousands of aircraft stripped down sitting in the dry desert.

[xraydelta]

I've seen an M110A1 self-propelled howitzer slide on solid ice. It was stateside, though. 😉

[fredericklockard]

I love how other countries claim their MBT is better than the very battle proven M1. It’s possible that one or more other MBTs are slightly better, but call when you can field literally thousands. Most European armies have maybe a few hundred at best.

[sharonburmeister]

We better hope the stored tanks are not all rusted tight and immobile. The rebuilding process in peace time is slower than a Galapogus turtle race on a cold day.