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M1 ECP1 upgrade and new diesel engine.


Damian90

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Something new about M1 tanks ECP1 modernization and their "dieselization"

Video:

http://leanermoreagileabct.com/video/abrams_02.swf

Brochure:

http://leanermoreagileabct.com/pdfs/Abrams_brochure.pdf

As we can see in the brochure, there is first photo of modernized M1 turret, we can see that old fire control system components and vetronics, which were rather bulky, had been replaced by new, compact, lighter components. Both gunner and tank commander have new, multifunction LCD displays, we can see that for example commander display can show simultanously image from his CITV, gunner sight and also 360 degree observation cameras.

Gunner have new more compact fire control system components.

Details are in the brochure.

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Well, it's not possibility but reality. Modified M1A2SEP hull with diesel engine is currently under test and evaluation and US Army ordered a study to determine costs of engine replacement and how much cost saving new engine will give.

Also I found somewhere on DTIC document where it was said that this year, first 9 prototypes of M1 with ECP1 upgrades should be builded.

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No, currently we know only about hull and turret technology demonstrators, not complete prototypes ready for evaluation. I assume that perhaps in a few next months, more informations will be revealed.

However GDLS is currently known to be rather silent about their new developments, news are rather scarce.

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Thanks for the info, certainly looks promising from the brochure. I'm impressed with the new large format flat screen and extra display for the commander as well.

I was wondering about the acoustic signature of the new engine, but with the muffler system they are talking about it seems the M1A2 is still pretty quiet.

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Good information. Even though I loved the turbine, I do think it is high time for the Abrams to have a diesel. It was such a jump in technology going from M60s to the M1 series.

The reality of economics with the Army having a very limited budget for the foreseeable future absolutely makes sense that the Abrams will be with US Forces for a very long time.

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Good information. Even though I loved the turbine, I do think it is high time for the Abrams to have a diesel. It was such a jump in technology going from M60s to the M1 series.

The reality of economics with the Army having a very limited budget for the foreseeable future absolutely makes sense that the Abrams will be with US Forces for a very long time.

+1

But I hope the diesel is as powerful, in terms of acceleration as the Gas turbine

One of the best features of the M1 is its acceleration and top speed.

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the new engine will be a torque drop from 5200Nm to 4600Nm.

Which would probably still deliver 'more than adequate' peformance'. Then there are the advantages of lower first cost and increased range which leads to a reduced refuelling logistics demand. As with all things, someone - sorry, some committee, can't run the risk of personal responsibility - would have to evalauate the trade-off. Will be interesting to watch.

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True, you also have ecp2 that is being added.

*Laser Warning Receiver

*Environmental Control System

*Directional Smoke Grenade Launchers

*Fire Suppression replacement

*Armor Upgrades

*CITV next Generation FLIR

*CITV Laser Ranger Finder

*CITV Color Camera

*GPS Next Generation FLIR

Aw hell, just when we thought we got the latest and greatest in American Armour for Steel Beasts they come out with this.

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An advantage of the turbine not mentioned so far is that being so small and light, it is reasonably easy to change out in the field. I would expect the diesel to require more powerful lifting equipment. And being water-cooled it will have a lot more interface connections. Unless these are 'snapoff' fittings, you then have the problem of draining, refilling and purging the cooling system of air.

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I do not see any major additional time in pulling a diesel power pack compared to the tribune. It will be interesting to see how they run the hydraulic pump and system.

Well from memory a power pack exchange on a Leo is in the region of 20mins. The idea of course begin that you swap the whole thing, get the tank going and then take the broken power pack back and then find the underlying issue.

You can work on a similar time scale for a M1.

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In all honesty though, the 15...20 minutes exchange time isn't fully representative of the complete workload. This works only if the crew has already opened the engine hatch and disconnected all hoses and cables. The Bundeswehr is showing this all the time because it fits nicely into the 15" attention span of an audience during a public demonstration, and under the rationale that if the engine fails, it might take another 15 minutes for the recovery vehicle to arrive on the scene while the crew remains undisturbed to prepare the swap.

Your mileage will vary in real life. ;)

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