hi all
knows anyone any news about this upgrade for the abrams?
thanks in advance for any help or answer!

Peter

Pieces of it have been fielded, like the loader's gunshield, TI phone, and the bar armor for the rear. The rest is not being fielded and the bar armor has been cancelled as well. No idea if any of the other parts will be fielded in the future.

The Bar Armor won't be fielded, from info provided by the Program Manager. It was designed to defeat RPG's that, after further review, are not that great of a threat to that part of the tank. The amount of armor is sufficient compared to the amount of pain to the crew for maintenance back there.

The T/I phone is only fielded on tanks that are going through RESET currently. Same source.

The LAGS (Loader's Armored Gun Shield), sometimes called TAGS, is being fielded as available in theatre.

If you are in Kentucky from the 15th through the 18th of May, stop by the Armor Warfighting Symposium (formerly known as Armor Conference). It's open to the public. There will be an M1A1 AIM TUSK and an M1A2 SEP TUSK on display, as well as briefings related to them.

The M1A1 will not receive the CROWS, but will receive all other items. Eventually, there may be a joint Army/Marine Corps night sight that get's fielded, but it's not quite there yet.

There are some additional things in the works for the Abrams, but almost all require the tank to go through the RESET process, due to the amount of work required, such as the ARAT (reactive tiles).

The complete package for TUSK will eventually be fielded through the RESET Program, so we can see the TUSK system phased in over the next couple of years. As well, just like any U.S. tank upgrade program, as the fielding matures, so will the technology, so a 2007 TUSK will be less advanced than a 2009 TUSk, and so on.

Some things to keep in mind as well, separate from the TUSK line, are the continuous upgrades that are in development, such as wireless CVC's, improved electronics, and so forth. So doubtless, we'll start seeing misinformation on what is TUSK and what is not.

Jed Sargent

Anyone plan on going to that show in Kentucky? I would love to get some photos of the M1A2 SEP/TUSK stuff. I suppose there would be a few others interested in photos too Would come in handy for an upcoming project.

Cheers,
Jim
[email protected]

I will be at Knox from 3 May till Mid-late June sometime. I am hoping to get some time off to go to the simposium.

I will see what I can do about getting pics of as much as I can. But I am not sure exactly what all I will be able to have while I go through AIT. ie laptop, internet. Stuff like that.

Ric

TUSK

Tank Urban Survival Kit