Abrams wins Army tank contest

The Australian Army has selected the US M-1A1 Abrams main battle tank to replace its ageing and vulnerable fleet of 30-year-old Leopard 1 tanks.

The minister for defence, senator Robert Hill, announced last month that the Army will buy 59 M-1AI Abrams Integrated Management (AIM) tanks, worth approximately $550 million. They will enter service from 2007 and will equip two operational squadrons and a training squadron of 1st Armoured Regiment in Darwin. Some 14 tanks will be located at the School of Armour at Puckapunyal.

Manufactured by General Dynamics Land Systems, the tanks are some 11 years old but will be refurbished and upgraded prior to delivery; they will be acquired through the US government's Foreign Military Sales (FMS) system.

"The tanks will be used by the Army to provide increased firepower, mobility and survivability for our soldiers on the battlefield," Hill said. "They will also improve the Army's network centric warfare capability, supporting the development of a networked combined arms approach to operations - where armour, infantry, artillery, aviation and engineers work together to support and protect each other."

Army evaluated the M-1A1 against the British Challenger II and several versions of the German Leopard II, according to the Chief of the Australian Army, Lieutenant General Peter Leahy.

He told reporters in Canberra last month that "the acquisition of this tank means that the land force will have a very robust and survivable tank offering great reliability, excellent through-life support and outstanding network-centric warfare potential. We believe...it's the best value for the [taxpayer's] money as it provides the best combination of tank capability, support, sustainment, extensive simulation and a comprehensive training package."

"The Abrams tank provides the proven and fully integrated radio and battle space management system, and that's part of what we mean by network centric warfare," Leahy continued. "This will bring all of the elements of the ADF - the Army, the Navy and the Air Force - into one integrated whole, or what we talk about as a seamless joint force. The vehicle will have digital communications inbuilt which means we will be able to seamlessly integrate with the Armed Reconnaissance Helicopter, our Airborne Early Warning and Communications aircraft and other network centric capabilities, and particularly the combat identification that we're going to acquire as a matter of urgency."

Aldo Borgu, of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) is unconvinced.

While the need for new tanks is clear, he told ADM that the money would be better spent on acquiring two more Wedgetail airborne early warning aircraft for the RAAF, which has ordered only four of these aircraft instead of the seven it originally planned. Furthermore, until the detail of the FMS deal and the value of Australian access to US spares and logistics support is revealed it's impossible to say whether the Abrams really is cheaper or offers better value than its competitors.

Meanwhile, the choice of the Abrams suggests that Australia is increasingly configuring its forces to support U.S.-led coalitions operating outside Australia's principal area of interest. Selecting the Leopard 2, for example, would send a message that Australia is configuring its forces to match its own defense posture.

Australian critics of the M-1A1 had repeatedly charged that the Abrams is much heavier than its rivals, uses too much fuel and, crucially, its gas turbine engine doesn't use the same diesel fuel which the Army's other vehicles employ. The US Army version of the Abrams weighs in at 69 tons.

However, Leahy said the version acquired by Australia will have a combat weight of just 62 tons, compared with 62.5 for the Challenger II and between 58 and 62 for different versions of the Leopard II. Australia's tanks will not carry depleted uranium (DU) armour, nor fire DU ammunition, he added; they are much lighter than the US Army versions as a result.

The Royal Australian Navy's current heavy landing craft and amphibious landing ships can handle the extra weight of the new tank, Leahy told reporters, with only some minor strengthening required for the stern loading ramps on the two amphibious landing ships.

The Army's existing landing craft are unable to carry the Abrams, or its competitors, but these craft are already slated for replacement by a new family of amphibious watercraft around the end of this decade, according to the new Defence Capability Plan.

Furthermore, an upgrade to the Abrams' turbine engine and the addition of an auxiliary power unit (APU) to provide power when the tank is stationary will reduce fuel consumption drastically. The Army believes the new Abrams fleet will cost approximately the same to operate as the current 100-strong Leopard 1 fleet, with fuel accounting for only some two per cent of the annual running costs, Leahy said.

While the US Army runs its M-1A1s on JP8 turbine fuel, the Australian variant will be able to use either diesel fuel or the same JP4 or JP5 turbine fuel as the Army's helicopters, Leahy said. Senator Hill added, "The question we asked is, Could we use our existing fuels? and the answer is yes."

The Australian tanks will fire armour-piercing, fin-stabilised discarding sabot (APFSDS) rounds from the 120mm smooth-bore guns; these will use tungsten penetrators. They will also fire what Leahy described as 'multi-purpose' high explosive rounds to support infantry troops. There are no plans to manufacture the new ammunition in Australia - all of it, including war stocks, will be imported.

The $550 million package also includes up to 8 tactical fuel tankers and 7 or 8 armoured recovery vehicles to back up the tanks on the battlefield, while the Army plans to acquire additional tank transporters, to move the tanks by road, as a new phase of Project Land 121 - Overlander. Money has been set aside for this, Leahy said

ADM understands that the Army has signed no in-service support contracts as yet. Negotiations on the tank deal thus far have taken place at government-to-government and army-to-army level without the contractors becoming involved. ADM understands that the FMS deal will include three years' training and logistics support; subsequent in-service support and maintenance contracts will be negotiated separately, once the prime contract is signed.

In-service support requirements are likely to focus on the platform and propulsion as well as the much higher technology communications, fire control, battle management and simulator systems. General Dynamics Land Systems - Australia manufactures gun turrets in Adelaide for the Australian ASLAVs and has a major logistics support facility in Darwin to support these vehicles; the same facility could be used to support the Abrams.

A statement from the US parent company in Sterling Heights, Michigan, said the "Foreign Military Sales case provides for significant participation by the original equipment manufacturer in partnership with other private and public entities. General Dynamics is ... uniquely provisioned to assist Australia in structuring a robust logistics system for its new main battle tank through our existing in-country company, General Dynamics Land Systems - Australia."

ADM understands that the DMO project office is now addressing the issues of integrating features such as Battlefield Command Support System (BCSS) terminals and new radios to be acquired under JP 2072 - Battlespace Communications System (Land). But Army also wants the tanks to be as much as possible Military Off The Shelf (MOTS) items, likely incorporating US radios, mission computers and possibly even battle management systems.