Oh boy, the Abrams X tech demo.

AKA: "Oh, so that's what the FCS program was for."

I have a lot of thoughts on the Abrams X, so, if you don't care to read all that, I'll leave a tl;dr at the bottom, in case someone wants to know my opinion without wanting to know why I have that opinion (for some reason.)

The Abrams X incorporates a lot of technology that excites me an awful lot. However, there are three things that stick out the most, so I'm gonna talk about them:

#1. The engine. The Abrams X uses a hybrid diesel engine (designed by Cadillac, if I remember correctly), which is a massive improvement over the current Abrams' gas turbine, which is less fuel efficient than just about every other MBT around. The new engine solves this problem by both switching to a hybrid design, which has greater performance, lesser noise, and lesser fuel consumption.

2. The turret/gun. It's remotely controlled, and miles better than the current m256, being lighter and even further integrated into optics/targeting. While I expect the real next-gen tanks to be equipping larger bore guns (in response to Russia and China looking to up-gun their next-gen MBTs), this Cannon is a fantastic intermediate step, and a great test bed/proof of concept for a remote-operated, auto-loading turret. This also drops the required crew down to 3, which may not seem like a big deal, but actually represents some pretty big stuff.

3. The integration. Ah, the "system of systems", come at last. Full integration to a combat network of drones, CAS fighters, other tanks, and in the future, perhaps fully autonomous ground vehicles. This is the thing that excites me most, as it means a truly massive level of integration and cooperation between every element of a combined arms forces, allowing every part to operate at a greater capacity. I've actually spoken with M1 tankers, and they seem most excited about the new Airplane-style helmets, and the level of coordination and targeting and spotting ability supplied by integrated drones.

However, it's not all sunshine and roses. With any massive leap forward in technology, this introduces a thousand thousand new potential points of failure into the system of every Abrams tank, which can cost lives when it counts. In addition, concerns have been expressed over the lowered crew count, saying that three people is not a reasonable number to expect to service and maintain a tank of the Abrams size out in the field, even with the supposed lower maintenance requirements of the Abrams X. Additionally, the smaller crew size and heavier focus on technology could indicate a shift in American tank ideology, towards the tanks being put out by other geopolitical powers, like China, Russia, and others.

Look what's on display in Moscow:

And, sure, it's Russian propaganda but there's no denying that the Russians now own tons (literally "tons") of top grade western military hardware, all paid for by Joe Biden.

Well. All paid for by the American people, but Joe Biden spent it against our wishes...

And, again, this is not a totally unbiased video produced by some random tourist. The audio is "Wrong" at points, WAY too clean for some vBlogger with a selfie stick.

But these are western vehicles, that is an American Abrams tank, and it's all sitting in Moscow being laughed at by the Russian people...

Опять «Абрамс», теперь уже на Красной площади (точнее, на её руинах)

Автор: Darius Abromaitis

🇷🇺⚔️🇺🇦🇺🇲 🚨

RUSSIAN FORCES HUNT DOWN ANOTHER U.S.-MADE ABRAMS TANK IN UKRAINE

📹 Footage from a Russian FPV drone as it hunts down and targets yet another American-made Abrams main battle tank (MBT) belonging to the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU).

It is unclear from the video whether the tank was just damaged or destroyed by the drone strike, however, several Abrams MBT's have already been destroyed by the Russian military.

#source

(..) Unlike many other European nations, Poland has not made significant reductions to its tank forces following the end of the Cold War. Instead, it has remained focused on the possibility of having to counter a Russian armored attack. While Poland does not share a border with ‘mainland Russia,’ it does share a frontier with the heavily militarized Russian exclave of Kaliningrad and with Belarus, a close Russian military ally(..)