AFV News from Around the Web

We are overdue for an installment of AFV News from Around the Web.  Here is an assortment of recent news articles on armored vehices.  Click on the headline to go to the complete piece.

Scout.com – Army Starts Early Concept Work on New Tank After Abrams – 2040s

The Army is now performing concept modeling and early design work for a new mobile, lethal, high-tech future lightweight tank platform able to detect and destroy a wider range of targets from farther distances, cross bridges, incinerate drones with lasers and destroy incoming enemy artillery fire – all for the 2030s and beyond.  The new vehicle, now emerging purely in the concept phase, is based upon the reality that the current M1A2 SEP Abrams main battle tank can only be upgraded to a certain limited extent, senior Army officials explained.

Motherboard – The Army’s New Tank Fires ‘Smart’ Cannon Rounds

The US Army just got a new tank with the ability to fire deadlier “smart” rounds from its powerful, 120-millimeter-diameter main cannon.  The new fighting vehicle’s unwieldy designation obscures its technological advancements. Officially, the new M-1A2 Systems Enhancement Package Version 3 tank, or M-1A2SEPV3, is a mere upgrade of the Army’s previous main battle tank, the M-1A2SEPV2 that entered service in 2007.  In fact, the tank boasts stronger armor, better electronics, and more efficient propulsion and power systems than on previous tanks, making it, in effect, a brand-new vehicle.

www.army.mil – Army rolls out latest version of iconic Abrams Main Battle Tank

LIMA, Ohio — On Wednesday, Oct. 4, members of the Joint Systems Manufacturing Center workforce celebrated the delivery of the next iteration of the iconic Abrams Main Battle Tank as the Army accepted the first of six M1A2 System Enhancement Package Version 3 initial production vehicles.  Production for the M1A2 SEPv3 is being conducted at JSMC in Lima, Ohio and at the Anniston Army Depot in Anniston, Alabama.

Quwa – Indonesia Displays Kaplan MT Medium-weight Tank

The Indonesian Army (Tentara Nasional Indonesia-Angkatan Darat – TNI-AD) officially displayed the Kaplan MT during a parade commemorating National Armed Forces Day 05 October in Cilegon, Banten Province.  The Kaplan MT was collaboratively developed by Indonesia’s PT Pindad and FNSS Savunma Sistemleri from Turkey under the TNI-AD’s Modern Medium Weight Tank (MMWT) program. Development began in 2014, with the design work completed in November 2016 and first prototype delivered in September 2017.

Jane’s 360 – AUSA 2017: US Army to upgrade some M113s as stop-gap measure

A request for proposals (RFP) to upgrade a limited number of the US Army’s M113 armoured personnel carriers could be released in the next month or so to identify interested parties, according to Colonel Mike Milner, programme manager for the Armored Multi-Purpose Vehicle (AMPV).  The army could eventually award contracts to two or three vendors to bring prototypes to a demonstration in fiscal year 2019, Col Milner told reporters on 10 October at the annual Association of the US Army’s (AUSA’s) conference.

Jane’s 360 – Valhalla Turrets reveals new 57 mm remote gun system development

Valhalla Turrets of Slovenia have revealed that they have commenced a private-venture project to develop the Hildgard 57 Medium Remote Gun System (MRGS), with a technology demonstrator expected to be completed by the second half of 2018.  The Hildgard MRGS effort leverages from their developed Midgard remote control weapon station (RCWS) and Asgard Light Tactical Turret (LTT) are soon expected to enter trials.

Defense News – Giving up on Abrams tank acquisition, Taiwan moves to upgrade its M60A3 tanks

MELBOURNE, Australia ― Taiwan appears to have conceded defeat in its quest to acquire surplus M1 Abrams tanks from the United States, with local media reporting that the East Asian country will now look at ways to locally upgrade the M60A3 main battle tanks it has in service.  According to the United Daily News newspaper, Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense will allocate approximately $6.57 million dollars to the state-owned National Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology, or NCSIST, to develop an upgrade program for the approximately 450 M60A3 TTS tanks operated by Taiwan’s Army.

Defense News – Europe-bound: US Army to urgently field Abrams tanks with Trophy APS

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Army has decided to equip a brigade’s worth of Abrams tanks with the Trophy Active Protection System and urgently field them to the European theater, Col. Glenn Dean, the program manager for Stryker, who also manages the service’s effort to install APS on combat vehicles, told Defense News.  The service made a decision to buy Trophy for Abrams on Sept. 29, Dean said, and now the Army is moving out to deploy the systems to Europe by 2020.