Creeping weight of Abrams tank concerns Pentagon’s chief weapons tester

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Creeping weight of Abrams tank concerns Pentagon’s chief weapons tester
By: Jen Judson   
 

WASHINGTON — The Abrams M1A2 SEPv3 tank is heavier than previous iterations and that extra weight concerns the Pentagon’s chief weapons tester, but the Army’s program office told Defense News the newer version of the tank works like vehicles in the current fleet.

“The Abrams M1A2 SEPv3 upgrades introduce suitability concerns,” the Director of Operational Test and Evaluation wrote in a recent report covering the program’s full operational test and evaluation and some live fire testing. “Weight growth limits the tank’s tactical transportability. The M1A2 SEPv3 is not transportable by current recovery vehicles, tactical bridges or heavy equipment transporters.”

Yet, according to the service’s program office within the Program Executive Office Ground Combat Systems, the version is “recoverable, bridgeable and transportable with no new restrictions above the current Abrams fleet.”

https://www.defensenews.com/land/2021/01/26/creeping-weight-of-abrams-tank-concerns-pentagons-chief-weapons-tester/