Hi. Once again I must parade my ignorance to the world about the Abrams tank and ask a question to the modern modelers or real operators of these machines out there. I notice that there is a 'port' or some such thing about half-way down the left side (viewed from the rear) of the vehicle that looks either like a viewing port or an exhaust opening. It does look rather small for the exhaust so I would assume it's some kind of view opening. Is this correct? And if it is for viewing (or whatever), where is the exhaust(s) located on this particular vehicle, as I can recollect seeing any photos of a model or the real thing that shows any exhaust stains anywhere? Or, being a turbine engine, does it produce any exhaust stains like a conventional engine? Kind of stumped here.

Thanks in advance, and a Happy New Year to one and all, Sgirty

Well it sounds like you are refering to the Heater exhaust which is a small round hole on the left side, or the NBC system exhaust which is a rectangular opening on the left side. both are in the same area. As far as exhaust stains the heater exhaust usually just rusts the pipe that pokes out of the armor and not much else. The NBC system hardly ever shows any exhaust stains except when something like water or dirt has gotten into a faulty NBC system and gets blown out when the system is turned on.

Hope this helps.

Stephen Magee
SSG type, 1ea, OD, All Purpose, MOS 19K3H

SS is right, you are probably talking about the slit for the NBC system:


The exhaust for the engine is dead center of the rear of the tank. It is the middle part of the grill on the rear, the one that is either painted black or is very rusty:

It is also very hot, somewhere over 1,000 degrees farenheit. It gets so hot that the entire rear of the tank will stay warm for hours after the engine is shut down. This is why you will sometimes see the crew sleeping on top of the rear hull when it is cold out.

Rob