M1A1
| This page is about the American main battle tank M1A1. For other vehicles of the family, see M1 Abrams (Family). For other uses, see M1 (Disambiguation). |
Contents
Description
The Tank, Combat, Full Tracked, 120-mm Gun M1A1 (shortened to M1A1) is a rank VII American medium tank with a battle rating of 11.3 (AB/RB/SB). It was introduced in Update 1.87 "Locked On".
General info
Survivability and armour
The M1A1 is essentially an IPM1 armed with a 120 mm M256 gun, meaning the armour is almost identical to its tech-tree predecessor. The tank features composite armour in gun mantlet, turret cheeks, sides and lower front plate, with composite side skirts affording some protection along the frontal half of the vehicle's hull. The M1A1 retains the Abrams series' exceptional protection against chemical energy projectiles, with the turret cheeks affording some 1,200 mm RHAe against shaped charges and the hull providing around 600 mm. However, the kinetic energy protection of the tank is quite lacklustre compared to its top tier compatriots, especially against the best rounds fielded by other nations' main battle tanks; all of which can easily penetrate the Abrams frontally in practically any location. This makes the tank quite vulnerable to enemy fire. However, the M1A1 also retains the excellent survivability of the Abrams series, with a spread out crew, separate ammunition compartment and shielding for fuel tanks and the engine compartment that make the tank unlikely to die in a single shot. However, don't expect to be able to fire back if you get penetrated: most penetrating hits will knock out at least one of these components/crew members: gun breech/barrel, turret traverse/elevation, gunner or loader, track(s), engine.
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 | 76 | 43 | 57.2 | 2,058 | 2,898 | 35.98 | 50.66 |
| Realistic | 69 | 39 | 1,343 | 1,519 | 23.48 | 26.56 | |
The M1A1 features the same 1,500 horsepower AGT-1500 gas turbine equipped on the other Abrams tank, though the tank has gotten several tons heavier. When stock, the vehicle accelerates quite sluggishly and features a horrendously slow hull traverse. Fully upgraded however, the M1A1 is quite nimble with decent power-to-weight ratio and traverse capability. At 68 km/h of top speed and 40 km/h in reverse, the tank is comparable to its counterparts.
Modifications and economy
| Mobility | Protection | Firepower | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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Armaments
Main armament
The M1A1's gun handles very well, with a very efficient stabiliser that allows accurate fire at any speed and a very fast 40 degrees per second turret traverse. The gun has good depression and elevation angles. An aced crew can reload the gun in just six seconds, which is comparable to the Leopard 2A5, Leclerc and T-80U, although slower than the Type 90 and Challenger 2. The penetration of the M829 APFSDS, even though is comparable if not a little better that its contemporaries, is not enough to handle most of the soviet MBTs it is going to face.
| 120 mm M256 | Turret rotation speed (°/s) | Reloading rate (seconds) | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mode | Capacity | Vertical | Horizontal | Stabilizer | Stock | Upgraded | Full | Expert | Aced | Stock | Full | Expert | Aced |
| Arcade | 40 | -10°/+20° | ±180° | Two-plane | 38.08 | 52.71 | 64.00 | 70.80 | 75.29 | 7.80 | 6.90 | 6.36 | 6.00 |
| Realistic | 23.80 | 28.00 | 34.00 | 37.60 | 40.00 | ||||||||
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 | ||
| M830 | HEATFS | 480 | 480 | 480 | 480 | 480 | 480 |
| M829 | APFSDS | 491 | 488 | 481 | 473 | 464 | 454 |
| 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% | |||||||
| M830 | HEATFS | 1,140 | 13.1 | 0.05 | 0.1 | 2,360 | 65° | 72° | 77° |
| M829 | APFSDS | 1,670 | 3.94 | N/A | N/A | N/A | 78° | 80° | 81° |
Ammo racks
| Full ammo |
1st rack empty |
2nd rack empty |
3rd rack empty |
Visual discrepancy |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 40 | 35 (+5) | 18 (+22) | 1 (+39) | No |
Machine guns
| 12.7 mm M2HB | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mount | Capacity (Belt) | Fire rate | Vertical | Horizontal |
| Pintle (Commander) | 1,000 (200) | 577 | -9°/+65° | ±180° |
| 7.62 mm M240 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mount | Capacity (Belt) | Fire rate | Vertical | Horizontal |
| Coaxial | 10,000 (200) | 941 | N/A | N/A |
| Pintle (Loader) | 1,400 (200) | 941 | -9°/+65° | -77°/+135° |
Usage in battles
Stock Gameplay:
As with any vehicle, the M1A1 finds itself at a serious disadvantage while stock. Without access to thermal imaging or the M829 APFSDS round, users will need to play more carefully. While the M830 HEATFS round is powerful, it struggles against composite armour and ERA, as well as having lacklustre post-penetration effects. Generally stock M1A1 tank commanders should avoid areas with lots of foliage, as here the lack of thermals will be especially detrimental. Additionally players will have to aim more carefully to deal effective damage with the M830 HEAT round.
Spaded Gameplay:
The M1A1 is a 10.3 glass cannon without the cannon part most of the time. The M829 APFSDS round has plenty of penetration only against non soviet opponents, but it should be easy to destroy enemy Leopards if shooting in the lower right part of the hull, detonating the ammo. The gun, ammo, and reload rate are comparable to other 10.3 vehicles.. The turret protection on the M1A1 is not capable of stopping any of the best APFSDS rounds at its tier. Rounds like 3BM42 Mango are able to penetrate at ranges up to 3,500 m. With this in mind, players should not rely on their armour.
Close Range Engagements:
The M1A1 is not a brawler. It has impressive acceleration and gun handling, giving it an edge over other vehicles, but anytime it faces the soviets, most times the rounds will not pen. The hull armour gives the M1A1 a fighting chance against HEAT rounds,even though most times it will hit the UGP and bounce right into the player's turret ring, knocking out the cannon breech, the gunner or the turret traverse. It is suggested to use its speed to get to a vantage position or a choke point and eliminate any target that gets through there.
Long Range Engagements:
The M1A1 is capable at long range, but is outclassed by many other vehicles. The cannon is powerful, but not especially so compared to its adversaries. The biggest issues the M1A1 will face in regards to long range engagements are the turret armour and lack of commanders thermals. While the M829 APFSDS round will fail to penetrate the turret cheeks of vehicles like T80U and Leopard 2A5, their rounds will have no such trouble with the M1A1. The lack of commanders thermals makes it difficult to scout for enemies while in full hull down, although players can bind a button to switch to the machine gun as their main weapon. This will allow them to see through the machine gun sight with a thermal imager, giving them an elevated vantage point through the thermals.
Gameplay summary:
Although the M1A1 is somewhat weak when stock, it is an adequate frontline tank while spaded. The powerful round and gun give it a strong position in the U.S. top tier lineup. However M1A1 tank commanders should remember that their turret cheeks can be penetrated by some rounds. This means it does best in close to medium range fights.
Pros and cons
Pros:
- Turret exceptionally well protected against chemical rounds
- Decent mobility when upgraded
- Ammunition in the turret, when detonated, generally will not spread to the crew compartment
- The fuel tanks and engine compartment are separated from the crew compartment by steel plates, increasing the time it takes for a fire to destroy the vehicle
- Reload speed of the 120 mm is decent; 6 seconds with an aced crew level
Cons:
- Stock vehicle is sluggish
- APFSDS round for the level is one of the lowest penetrating and spalling values for the BR it sits at. Even the Styker and IPM1 have better penetration
- Stock rounds are quite inadequate against many of the main battle tanks the vehicle faces
- Ammunition variety is limited to two choices, a HEAT-FS and APFSDS round
- Reload time slower than 105 mm armed predecessors
- Hull and turret armour less effective against kinetic rounds, plus are lacking in protection against the armaments of current Rank VII vehicles
- Weak turret ring armour and upper hull plate ricochets will often/sometimes lead to fatal shot traps and ammo racks.
- 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
Almost as soon as the first production M1 Abrams MBTs began rolling off the assembly line, did American engineers begin working on an up-gunned version of the Abrams. They succeeded in this endeavour in 1981, after a prototype Abrams, designated M1E1, was successfully fitted with a 120mm Rheinmetall smoothbore cannon.
Showing promising performance, work on the vehicle continued. At the same time, an upgraded version of the original Abrams, the IPM1, which featured improved protection and a larger turret was briefly produced between 1984 - 1986. The resulting M1A1 Abrams inherited the upgrades from the IPM1 and combined them with the M256 120 mm smoothbore cannon, a licence-built version of the German original.
The M1A1 was adopted for service in 1984 and was produced alongside the IPM1 for a short while since 1985 until the older modification was phased out of production.
The M1A1 saw its first use during the U.S. deployment in the Gulf War in 1991. Faced against arguably inferior Soviet-era tanks, the M1A1 had successfully proven its worth in tank-on-tank engagements but exposed new problems concerning its performance and vulnerability in urban environments. This led to further upgrades for the vehicle being developed later on.
Production of the M1A1 seized in 1992, with over 5,800 units being produced, including Egyptian and Australian export models. The original M1A1 chassis still serves today, albeit as upgraded variants which have undergone several modernization efforts.
- From Devblog
Media
- Skins
- Images
M1A1 Abrams on the move in Alaska
- Videos
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
| General Dynamics Land Systems (GDLS) | |
|---|---|
| MBTs | IPM1 Abrams · M1A1 · M1A1 HC · M1A2 Abrams · M1A2 SEP |
| Tank destroyers | M1128 Stryker MGS |
| USA medium tanks | |
|---|---|
| M2 | M2 |
| M3 | M3 Lee · ▃Grant I |
| M4 | M4 · Calliope · M4A1 · M4A1 (76) W · M4A2 · M4A2 (76) W · M4A3 (105) · M4A3 (76) W · M4/T26 |
| M26 Pershing | T20 · T25 · M26 · M26 T99 · M26E1 |
| M46/47/48 Patton | M46 · M46 "Tiger" · M47 · M48A1 · T54E1 · T54E2 |
| M60 | M60 · M60A1 (AOS) · M60A1 RISE (P) · M60A2 · M60A3 TTS · M728 CEV · 120S |
| MBT-70 | MBT-70 · XM803 |
| M1 Abrams | XM1 (Chrysler) · XM1 (GM) |
| M1 Abrams · M1 KVT · IPM1 | |
| M1A1 · M1A1 HC · M1A1 Click-Bait | |
| M1A2 Abrams · M1A2 SEP · M1A2 SEP V2 | |
| Other | T95E1 |
| Australia | M1A1 AIM |
| Canada | M4A5 |
| Israel | ▃Magach 3 (ERA) · ▃Merkava Mk.1 · ▃Merkava Mk.2B · ▃Merkava Mk.3D |
| Turkey | M60 AMBT |
- Ground vehicles
- USA ground vehicles
- Seventh rank ground vehicles
- Medium tanks
- Ground vehicles with composite armour
- Ground vehicles with smoke grenades
- Ground vehicles with engine smoke generating system
- Ground vehicles with night vision device
- Ground vehicles with thermal sight
- Ground vehicles with gun stabilizer
