May 19, 2021
The U.S. Army's M1 Abrams and Robot Tanks (Fighting Side by Side?)
Will there be a replacement for the Army’s upgraded Abrams main battle tank? Should there be?
by Kris Osborn
It is a question that lingers with no real answer—at least not an answer at the moment. Will there be a replacement for the Army’s upgraded Abrams main battle tank? Should there be? Ultimately an entirely new platform may arise, but many questions remain open, such as how long until that happens? Will there still need to be a vehicle built with heavy armor to withstand heavy enemy mechanized attacks? Perhaps a new Abrams-like platform, should it come to fruition, will be a large, heavy vehicle with Abrams-like armor protection. At the moment, there simply may not be anything that has a comparable protective performance that can replace it.
Is the answer lightweight armor composites? A new, impenetrable Active Protection System? Or, perhaps the optimal solution lies in the fast-emerging phenomenon of manned-unmanned teaming.
One simple way to engineer an ultra-lightweight, super-fast, yet heavily armed future combat vehicle is to simply make it a drone that is controlled or operated by a heavier manned vehicle such as an Abrams tank. An Abrams tank can adjust tactics and be used specifically for certain missions only it is able to perform successfully, all while drawing upon human decision-making faculties to drive operations, while informed by ultra-high-speed, AI-enabled computing and data processing.
https://nationalinterest.org/blog/buzz/us-armys-m1-abrams-and-robot-tanks-fighting-side-side-185541
