Military vehicles, like civilian vehicles, are important and crucial for military transportation and battlefield maneuvering. The most known military fighting vehicle is the M1 Abrams. The M1 Abrams is named after General Creighton Abrams. General Abrams was the commander of the 37th Armored Regiment and is the former Army Chief of Staff. The M1 Abrams is a heavily, armored, armed tank designed for ground warfare. The M1Abrams weighs close to 70 tons and has a gas turbine engine. The first M1 Abrams came into service in 1980 when it replaced the M60 Patton and the M48A5. There are three versions of the M1 Abrams that are in use today. They are the M1, the M1A1 and the M1A2.
The M1 Abrams is used by the United States Army and Marine Corps as well as the armies of Australia, Kuwait, Egypt and Saudi Arabia. They have been prominently used in the Gulf War, the Kosovo War and the Iraq War. The vehicles move at a speed of 42 MPH on the road and 30 MPH off the road on the earthy terrain. The M1 Abrams was designed by the Chrysler Defense division in 1979 and is manufactured by General Dynamics in Lima, Ohio. General Dynamics is defense company formed through many mergers and buyouts. It was originally founded in New York City in 1952 but its headquarters is now located in Falls Church, Virginia. They are now the sixth largest defense contractor in the world and originally produced the F-16 Fighting Falcon until selling it to Lockheed in 1993. General Dynamics has four facets of production. They are Marine Systems, Combat Systems, Information Systems and Technology and Aerospace.
Currently there are over 9,000 M1 Abrams in use by the United States Army and Marine Corps as well as vehicles being sold to the countries listed above that use them for their Armies. In the Gulf War, which took place in the early 1990s, 21 different M1 Abrams were either damaged or completely destroyed by enemy fire and sometimes even friendly fire. As a result of the 21 damaged or destroyed M1 Abrams in the Gulf War, there was only one soldier killed in action and 17 soldiers wounded in action. Those numbers are staggering. One killed and only 17 injured because of the armor that protects the M1 Abrams. The M1 Abrams has a crew of four people. They are the commander, the driver, the gunner and the loader.
The M1A1, an upgraded version of the M1 Abrams, was designed and first manufactured in 1985 for use by the United States Army and Marine Corps. The M1A2 version was designed and manufactured shortly after the M1A1 was released. With over 9,000 different versions of the M1 Abrams in production or already in service of the country and of the previously mentioned other countries' armies, the unit cost per vehicle ranges from $2.35-$4.30 million depending on different features. Most of the M1 Abrams tanks produced are painted with the green camouflage but the ones produced for service in the deserts of Iraq and Afghanistan are being painted to match their desert surroundings.
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