M1 Abrams

M1 Abrams

MBT-70

M1A1

M1 Abrams

MBT-70

M1A1

USA

VII Rank

Battle rating:

AB	RB	SB
10.3	10.3	10.3

Class:

Medium tank

Research:260 000

Purchase:710 000

Show in game

This page is about the American medium tank M1 Abrams. For other vehicles of the family, see M1 Abrams (Family). For other uses of the designation, see M1 (Disambiguation).

Description

The Tank, Combat, Full Tracked, 105-mm Gun M1, or just M1 Abrams, is a rank VII American medium tank with a battle rating of 10.3 (AB/RB/SB). It was introduced in Update 1.77 "Advancing Storm".

In-game, the M1 Abrams is a fairly quick main battle tank. It accelerates quickly, and will hold a speed of 32 miles an hour over rough terrain. On city maps or paved surfaces, an M1 Abrams can easily reach its top speed of 45 miles an hour, thanks to its monstrously powerful turbine engine. With three speeds in reverse, it is also capable of an impressive 25 miles an hour to back away from troublesome situations.

As powerful as the motor may be, the M1 Abrams has a slow to respond, and relatively slow traverse rate for its neutral steering. In some circumstances, it may be more beneficial to back away before turning around, as waiting for the neutral steering to turn 180 degrees is lengthy.

The M1 Abrams also suffers from a raised engine deck- As such, its capacity for "over the shoulder" shots and shots directly over the rear is very limited, because the engine deck prevents lowering the cannon.

General info

Survivability and armour

Armour type:

• Composite armour
• Rolled homogeneous armour

Armour	Front (Slope angle)	Sides	Rear	Roof
Hull	19-38.1 mm (82-83°) Front glacis 31.75* mm (40°), 25.4-38.1 mm (82°) Lower glacis	27.6-30 + 6.35-70.0 mm 25.4 mm Front tip 28.4 mm Rear tip	31.75 mm (5-37°) 12.7 mm (53-54°)	31.75 mm 5 mm Engine grille
Turret	31.75* mm (21-30°) 31.75* mm (30-36°) Gun mantlet 25.4 mm (74-82°) Turret underside	12.7-31.75* mm (30°)	12.7 mm (43-48°) 25.4 mm (80-83°) Turret underside	38.1 mm Front 25.4 mm Rear 12.7 mm Panels
Armour	Sides	Roof
Cupola	25.4 mm	25.4 mm
Composite armour*	Front	Sides	Rear	Roof
Hull	Lower glacis: 380 mm Kinetic 600 mm Chemical	N/A	N/A	N/A
Turret	Turret front: Angles +0-0°: 400 mm Kinetic 650 mm Chemical Angles +25-25°: 380 mm Kinetic 600 mm Chemical Gun mantlet: 240 mm Kinetic 450 mm Chemical	31.75 mm sections: 160 mm Kinetic 400 mm Chemical 12.7 mm sections: 80 mm Kinetic 400 mm Chemical	N/A	N/A

Notes:

• Suspension wheels are 20 mm thick while tracks are 30 mm thick.
• Turret ring is 50.8 + 50.8 mm thick.
• 19 mm RHA plates are positioned behind the front fuel tanks.
• 19 mm RHA plates surround the turret rear ammo racks.

Mobility

Game Mode	Max Speed (km/h)		Weight (tons)	Engine power (horsepower)		Power-to-weight ratio (hp/ton)
	Forward	Reverse		Stock	Upgraded	Stock	Upgraded
Arcade	80	43	55.7	2058	2,898	36.95	52.03
Realistic	72	39		1343	1,519	24.11	27.27

Armaments

Main armament

105 mm M68A1					Turret rotation speed (°/s)					Reloading rate (seconds)
Mode	Capacity	Vertical	Horizontal	Stabilizer	Stock	Upgraded	Full	Expert	Aced	Stock	Full	Expert	Aced
Arcade	55	-10°/+20°	±180°	Two-plane	38.08	52.71	64.00	70.8	75.29	6.50	5.75	5.30	5.00
Realistic					23.8	28.0	34.0	37.6	40.0

Ammunition

Penetration statistics
Ammunition	Type of warhead	Penetration @ 0° Angle of Attack (mm)
		10 m	100 m	500 m	1,000 m	1,500 m	2,000 m
M456A2	HEATFS	400	400	400	400	400	400
M393A2	HESH	127	127	127	127	127	127
M735	APFSDS	353	350	342	333	322	312
M774	APFSDS	357	355	347	338	328	319

Shell details
Ammunition	Type of warhead	Velocity (m/s)	Projectile Mass (kg)	Fuse delay (m)	Fuse sensitivity (mm)	Explosive Mass (TNT equivalent) (g)	Ricochet
							0%	50%	100%
M456A2	HEATFS	1,173	10.5	0.0	0.1	1,271	65°	72°	77°
M393A2	HESH	732	14.85	0.4	0.1	4,306	73°	77°	80°
M735	APFSDS	1,501	3.7	N/A	N/A	N/A	76°	77°	80°
M774	APFSDS	1,509	3.4	N/A	N/A	N/A	78°	80°	81°

Smoke shell characteristics
Ammunition	Velocity (m/s)	Projectile Mass (kg)	Screen radius (m)	Screen deploy time (s)	Screen hold time (s)	Explosive Mass (TNT equivalent) (g)
M416	730	11.4	20	5	25	50

Ammo racks

Last updated: 1.77.2.68

Ammo racks of the M1 Abrams

Full ammo	1st rack empty	2nd rack empty	3rd rack empty	4th rack empty	Visual discrepancy
55	33 (+22)	25 (+30)	3 (+52)	0 (+55)	No

Blowout rack only: 45 (+10)

First ammo rack will replenish when not reloading

Machine guns

12.7 mm M2HB
Mount	Capacity (Belt capacity)	Rate of fire (shots/minute)	Vertical guidance	Horizontal guidance
Commander's cupola	1,000 (200)	576	-9°/+65°	±180°

7.62 mm M240
Mount	Capacity (Belt capacity)	Rate of fire (shots/minute)	Vertical guidance	Horizontal guidance
Loader's cupola	1,400 (200)	750	-9°/+65°	-77°/+135°
Coaxial	10,000 (200)	750	N/A	N/A

Usage in battles

Due to its unreliable armour, it is suggested to always try to find a sniping spot; in the maps where it is not an option, advance facing forward after checking for enemies. As long as your armour faces the enemy, you are relatively safe. When defending, go hull-down. Make sure there are places to retreat to if needed, and take advantage of the reverse speed and smoke grenades to run from ATGMs. Use the rangefinder when you can, but if the target is moving, you will probably miss. Try to guess based on experience if it comes to it. A good tactic would be to bind RMB to rangefinding and the mouse wheel for elevation adjustements. The M68A1 is a very good gun, but at 10.0, even with APFSDS, it struggles to penetrate many enemies even in the LFP, and trying to fight any soviet MBT in close quarters is just as fun as getting kicked in the teeth but thanks to its good zoom and field of view, a good way to play it safe would be sniping from far away and hoping to get lucky shots, since the ammo rack can hold 45 rounds. It is suggested to use the M735, since at distance many rounds will not hit the target and the M774 costs 600 SL to fire and has only got a better angle penetration. Although it has a low penetration, the M735 and the M774 are still APFSDS, and as such, you can get a penetrating hit on an enemy's side even with a very low impact angle.

The Abrams main strength its its extreme mobility, even by MBT standards, and the very good ballistics of the dart rounds. However, the price comes in protection; the Abrams is quite vulnerable, and struggles to deflect incoming shells with anything: even its turret cheeks are very vulnerable to any top tier round excluding HEATFS. Additionally, The M1 has somewhat sub-par penetration even with its best shell. Because of these factors, it is recommended that you do not use this tank as a front line brawler. Instead, use your speed to quickly appear from angles your opponents are not expecting you to come from. This can take the form of flanking in order to get side shots, Rushing at the start of the game to take an advantageous position, or getting to choke points before the enemy does, in order to be ready to knock them out. Essentially, This tank should be played much like the M18 Hellcat at Rank III, though unlike the Hellcat it is not impossible for your armour to help you occasionally.

A useful thing to note when playing the Abrams, and most MBTs in general, is that if your opponent shows any side armour, you can penetrate them almost every time. if someone is coming towards you even at a slight angle, aim for the the front drive wheel on their tracks. Your shell will be able to penetrate into the tank and likely one shot kill them. It is recommended to use APFSDS as the main loadout, as the HEAT-FS ammunition starts coming against tanks with armour types specifically designed to resist it.

In terms of threats:

• Most tanks at its Battle rating, due to the relatively poor armour.
• Type 90 and AMX-40, as their incredibly powerful shots can penetrate you anywhere, at any angle, at almost any distance.
• The T-80B, because of its strong armament and very strong armour. it can be penetrated through its lower front plate, the drivers viewport below the gun, and just to the side or below the gun. If a T80B shows any of its side, you can penetrate it there.

Modules

Tier	Mobility		Protection	Firepower
I	Tracks		Parts	Horizontal Drive	M393A2	M735
II	Suspension	Brake System	FPE	Adjustment of Fire	M416	Smoke grenade
III	Filters		Crew Replenishment	Elevation Mechanism	NVD
IV	Transmission	Engine	ESS	Artillery Support	Laser rangefinder	M774

Pros and cons

Pros:

• Very good mobility for its weight
• Good chemical protection from composite armour
• Turret also has composite armour on the side
• Turns very fast, even in neutral steering
• Internal armour plating helps with increasing the crew survivability
• Very accurate main gun with very good gun stabilizers and good rate of fire
• Great forward and reverse speed
• Very good acceleration
• Blowout panels protect the crew from ammo-racks detonation
• Although composite armour is absent on the upper glacis plate, the extreme sloping makes shells bounce everytime

Cons:

• Large target
• The three shells under the gun do NOT have blowout panels, if detonated you will die
• No composite armour on the upper glacis plate and in the rear of the turret, so remaining on level terrain is priority
• Low APFSDS penetration compared to Challenger 1 and T-64B
• Inadequate stock ammo loadout; Both the M735 and M456 shells are no longer effective at top rank
• Weakest composite armour compared to Challenger and T-64B
• Losing some crew members will prevent you from firing some of your smoke grenades
• The armour's chemical resistance against HEAT and such is not relevant against contemporary enemies usually equipped with APFSDS
• NVD are a tier III modification
• M774 is a tier IV modification and it is still a pretty weak round for 10.0
• The turret ring is a massive weak spot since any shell at 10.0 can penetrate it
• Like with most Abrams series tanks, the engine deck is slightly raised, meaning that you will not be able to depress the gun over the rear of the tank.

History

Once the unsuccessful joint German-American MBT-70 project had been shut down in 1971, the Congress redistributed funds to the further development of the XM815 project, later known as the XM1 Abrams. The development of the XM1 Abrams was a competition between two designs of the Chrysler and General Motors companies, respectively. Early July 1973 marks an important date for the project after representatives of both companies travelled to Great Britain to witness the development of the new composite armor, named Burlington. Impressed by what they saw, both companies decided to reevaluate and optimize their designs’ armor layout to increase its effectiveness, with General Motors changing the front shape of the turret to a sloped surface, whilst Chrysler retained its vertical design. By 1976, the XM1 prototypes were being readied for testing, with the finishing touch being the installation of the M68 cannon.. Testing of both prototypes took place in the presence of the new German Leopard 2 tank, which was shipped to the U.S. for comparison purposes. Once testing was concluded and the results evaluated, the turbine-powered Chrysler design was proclaimed the winner of the competition and thus the Chrysler design would soon enter production as the M1 Abrams.

The M1 entered production in 1979, with the first production version M1 leaving the factory floor in February 1980. Production of the M1 continued until 1985, with an improved M1IP version being produced briefly between 1984 -1986. By 1985, several thousands of M1s had already been manufactured and put into service. In August 1985 however, the M1 was outfitted with the licence-built version of the Rheinmetall 120mm gun, as found on the Leopard 2 tank and subsequently entered production as the M1A1 Abrams. Following this modification, earlier M1 units would progressively be upgraded to M1A1 standard, but this is a story for another devblog in the future. The M1 Abrams saw the most active service with US forces primarily in operations in the Middle East, but known operators also include Australia, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and others. Nonetheless, the American M1 Abrams is one of the most successful and widely fielded modern-day MBTs in use anywhere in the world, and rightfully deserves its iconic status alongside other American legends such as the M4 Sherman and M60 Patton, to name but a few. The fact that the M1 Abrams is still being manufactured and used today, almost four decades after its introduction, serves as a testimony to that statement.

- From Devblog

Media

Skins

• Skins and camouflages for the M1 Abrams from live.warthunder.com.

Videos

The Shooting Range #88 - Metal Beasts section at 00:32 discusses the M1 Abrams.

Т-64B vs M1 Abrams - War Thunder Official Channel

How to destroy the M1 Abrams - War Thunder Official Channel

The Shooting Range #94 - Pages of History section at 04:33 discusses the M1 Abrams.

M1 Abrams vs T-72A vs T-80B - War Thunder Official Channel

See also

Links to the articles on the War Thunder Wiki that you think will be useful for the reader, for example:

• reference to the series of the vehicles;
• links to approximate analogues of other nations and research trees.

External links

• [Devblog] M1 Abrams: The Desert Warrior