Random question, what happened to all the earlier 105mm M1's? Are they sitting in a field somewhere rusting away, did they all get scrapped or did they get rebuilt into later A1 versions?

They were all over Europe for a short time in the 80's and then it seems like they simply disappeared.

Why should they be brought to storage when you can rebuild them into M1A1`s or M1A2`s?

I'm sure many were rebuilt and many put out to pasture.
The Army isn't so big now and not so many tanks are needed.
D

Just waiting for better days...



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7bFKFcp0LM0

H.P.

A lot of them went to the National Guard, although they have long since been replaced with newer Abrams variants. I climbed all over one such example back in 2000 but it must have been virtually at the end of its service life.

With the exception of less than 100(?) vehicles that were 'new-builds' off the production line, all subsequent M1A2s are rebuilds of earlier variants. That included a major program to upgrade the M1/IPM1 to M1A2 standards. Inevitably, not every single vehicle will have gone through the upgrade process, but the vast majority did so.

I don't think the US Army has purchased any truly new Abrams since the early '90s.

John

Wow, 105 tubes as far as the eye could see. Where was this pic taken?

Glad to hear that they were rebuilt, just curious, did they just use the hulls or were they able to refab the turrets for the new gun and upgraded armor? The history of the M1 is truly fascinating.

I guess it could be Anniston Army Depot in Alabama.

H.P.

I went to SFAUC with 20th SFG back in 2004 there. If they were there, they were very well hidden. I searched that post completely looking for interesting things, like the fabled two headed frogs that dwell there as a result of the chemical munitions...

Hi,

if you watch the youtube video linked it the post, just at the beginning of it it´s said that it is recorded at Sierra Army Depot. Just east of Reno, at the CA/Nevada border.

Andreas

And if you google earth Sierra Depot, it looks like there is still quite a bit of unmodified tanks out there. Hard to tell, but it doesn’t look like there are any tanks out there with the manhole covers on the turrets, for the CITV. also looks like a lot of them are missing their commanders weapon stations. Strange.

To add, just found another area to the east that looks like A1’s / A2’s, the manhole covers are distinct, although blurry. There’s a lot of freaking M1’s out there.

The Anniston Depot was mentioned in a caption I've found for this picture. It's not related to the video.

H.P.

Around 7-8K were made.
Certainly don't need many now.
Dan

John,
As many have mentioned, the big turret M1IPs (or more correctly IPM1s) have been rebuilt into M1A2 SEPs/SEP V2s over the past 10 or so years as part of the AIM program. The small turreted M1s have have been put out to pasture, gate guards or possibly long term storage.

John

Hello Frenchy,

I believe that this is a photo taken at Camp Shelby, MS.

Respectfully,

Allen

Again, like Anniston, Camp Shelby is another base I've spent considerable time at. I actually took the family there twice for vacations. They rent two bedroom cabins on the lake for $30/night. I search this base every time I'm there. While they do have both an Abrams and Bradley refit facility (my daughter TC'ed a Bradley several years ago) I've never found any Abrams more interesting than one being being upgraded.



Or this one old school example rusting away all by itself:



I did find a slew of original Bradley A0's, set to be re-purposed.



Sadly, the last time I was there just a few months ago this is the most interesting vehicle I could find to do a walk around of:



At least the barbecue in Mizzssippi is still good, especially the place outside of Shelby on Highway 49 that proudly proclaims in all its neon garishness that "Nobody beats our meat."

I saw a video (might have been posted on here) of a train load of M1s heading somewhere. Video was over in the Cal. Central Valley. SWAG is they were coming out of the Sierra Depot. Looked like they were 105 gunned and had lots of bits and pieces missing.