M1A2 Abrams

M1A2 Abrams

IPM1

M1A2 SEP

M1A2 Abrams

IPM1

M1A2 SEP

USA

VIII Rank

Battle rating:

AB	RB	SB
11.7	11.7	11.7

Class:

Medium tank

Research:400 000

Purchase:1 080 000

Show in game

Description

The Tank, Combat, Full Tracked, 120-mm Gun M1A2 (shortened to M1A2 Abrams) is a rank VIII American medium tank with a battle rating of 11.7 (AB/RB/SB). It was introduced in Update 1.93 "Shark Attack" as the top-researchable vehicle in the US Ground Forces tech tree. The M1A2 introduces heavy depleted uranium armour, a commander's thermal sight and the only driver's thermal imager in the game.

General info

Survivability and armour

The M1A2's frontal armour vs CL1343 at 500 metres

The M1A2's armour is a massive improvement in comparison to its predecessor, the M1A1 and is the first Abrams in the game to be equipped with depleted uranium composite armour, located on the turret cheeks of the tank. The protection afforded by the use of depleted uranium amounts to roughly over 200 mm RHAe more armour against kinetic energy projectiles whilst retaining the near impenetrable chemical protection of the M1A1. The turret's overall kinetic energy protection ranges from around 690 mm to 600 mm whilst the chemical energy protection ranges from 1200 mm to 1000 mm. However the M1A2 has no depleted uranium located in the lower front plate and retains the same protection there, retaining the same weak spots as the M1A1 there. The turret ring and breech also are weakspots, though the breech on the Abrams series is notably some of the strongest out of all NATO main battle tanks being small and well protected against chemical energy rounds and some early APFSDS rounds.

Mobility

The M1A2 retains the same 1500 horsepower AGT-1500 gas turbine on previous Abrams variants, though the tank has gained an additional 4 metric tons of weight, putting the total mass of the tank at 61.7 tonnes. This translates to a noticeable decrease in acceleration and manoeuvrability due to a lower hp/ton ratio. However the tank retains the same 68 km/h top speed and 40 km/h reverse speed and compared to its counterparts the M1A2 is still quite mobile, especially at speeds over 40 km/h. When stock, the hull traverse is quite horrendous and acceleration is lacking, though these are largely remedied by researching the engine, filters, transmission and tracks modules.

Armaments

Main armament

The M1A2 is armed with the same 120 mm M256 smoothbore gun as the M1A1 and has access to the same ammunition of APFSDS and HEAT-FS. However the M1A2 also gets access to a new HEAT-MP-T shell, M830A1. The M829 APFSDS round is still an excellent anti-tank munition, boasting the third highest penetration figures out of any sabot round in the game, at 493 mm of flat penetration at point blank and decreasing to just 458 mm at 2 kilometres. Its angled performance is also excellent, penetrating 284 mm of armour at 60 degrees point blank and 264 mm at 2 kilometres. It is sufficient to reliably engage any vehicle in the game frontally. The M830 HEAT-FS shell penetrates a meager 480 mm of armour. It is not recommended to use this shell after unlocking the M829. The M1A2's new shell, M830A1 is a special type of HEAT-FS round. Instead of using a conventional impact fuse, M830A1 is a sub-calibre HEAT-FS round that has been saboted into a 120 mm casing and fitted with a proximity fuse. This allows it to effectively engage low flying aircraft and helicopters up to a range of 4.5 kilometres. The sub-calibre nature of the round means it travels extremely quickly at 1400 m/s, making it the fastest HEAT round in the game. However its effectiveness against armoured vehicles is limited as it penetrates a mere 350 mm of armour.

The M1A2'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; negative 10 and positive 20 degrees respectively. An aced crew can reload the gun in just six seconds, making it a very fast firing and powerful gun.

Machine guns

Offensive and anti-aircraft machine guns not only allow you to fight some aircraft but also are effective against lightly armoured vehicles. Evaluate machine guns and give recommendations on its use.

Usage in battles

Describe the tactics of playing in the vehicle, the features of using vehicles in the team and advice on tactics. Refrain from creating a "guide" - do not impose a single point of view but instead give the reader food for thought. Describe the most dangerous enemies and give recommendations on fighting them. If necessary, note the specifics of the game in different modes (AB, RB, SB).

Pros and cons

Pros:

• New depleted uranium composite armour layout makes the frontal turret extremely difficult to penetrate to all munitions in the game
• Can effectively destroy aircraft or helicopters with new HEATFS shell through proximity detonation
• Thermal sight for the commander, gunner and driver
• Excellent thermal quality (800 x 600), comparable to the Leopard 2A5
• Good crew survivability like the rest of the Abrams line

Cons:

• Has the same weak spots as the preceding Abrams
• The mantlet can be penetrated by almost all shells, will only stop HEATFS
• The Italian CL1343 APFSDS found on the Ariete line of tanks can penetrate some areas of the gunner's side turret cheek at close range
• Least manoeuvrable Abrams in the game, due to its weight of 61.7 tonnes

History

In the second half of the 1980s, a development project was launched to increase the combat effectiveness of the Abrams MBT. The result of this undertaking became the M1A2 version of the Abrams.

The new version featured an upgraded fire control system, a new independent commander’s panoramic sight as well as improved protection thanks to the use of second generation depleted uranium composite armor. All of these upgrades combined significantly bolstered the combat capabilities of the Abrams tank. Production of the M1A2 began in 1986 and the modification was formally introduced into US service in 1992.

The M1A2 and its sub-variants are the most advanced modifications of the Abrams tank fielded to date. Over 1,500 M1A2s have been built with some older variants also being upgraded to the M1A2 standard. Apart from the U.S. as its primary operator, the M1A2 also sees service with the armed forces of Kuwait and Saudi Arabia.

- From Devblog

Media

Excellent additions to the article would be video guides, screenshots from the game, and photos.

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

• [Development] M1A2 Abrams - Higher and Higher