what is this tank?(M1A3)

lucinator

New Member
Not sure what kind of tank is in this video, possibly a M1A3 prototype? Any thought would be good

[nomedia="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5lqW94Gmug8&feature=player_embedded"]Rare Trains in Berea/Northfield OH:CSX Geo, Tank,+ NS Special! - YouTube[/nomedia]
 

rcsribby

New Member
It is an upgrade to the M1A2 Abrams, I have read unconfirmed reports the the USA did not upgrade our M1A2s because budget constraints , But that Saudi Arabia was buying them ( M1A3s ),which now they have the best version of the Abrams. The Army's plan was to let them buy the and that would keep the Abrams line open and that we would buy them at a later date. AND then the Gulf War 2 happened and the Lima Ohio plant received a lot of work ,but instead of calling it the M1A3 they called it M1A2 SEP V1,V2, & V3 (V= variant ) which had improvements on it for fighting in urban areas( IRAQ). There is also a possibility that the Army Will eventually convert all of the variants to the M1A3 in the future.
 

lucinator

New Member
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It is an upgrade to the M1A2 Abrams, I have read unconfirmed reports the the USA did not upgrade our M1A2s because budget constraints , But that Saudi Arabia was buying them ( M1A3s ),which now they have the best version of the Abrams. The Army's plan was to let them buy the and that would keep the Abrams line open and that we would buy them at a later date. AND then the Gulf War 2 happened and the Lima Ohio plant received a lot of work ,but instead of calling it the M1A3 they called it M1A2 SEP V1,V2, & V3 (V= variant ) which had improvements on it for fighting in urban areas( IRAQ). There is also a possibility that the Army Will eventually convert all of the variants to the M1A3 in the future.
One, the M1A3 is a real upgrade not related to the SEP package. Two, the version the Saudis got is a downgrade of the M1A2 version the US uses. and not a SEP tank the way you describe it, and definitely not the same SEP the United States uses, which has improved Depleted Uranium Armor which none of the United States export versions have.

Also I was asking what the tank on the train was, as this video was made in late 2010, it is fairly recent.
 

Belesari

New Member
I remember when this came out. Had alot of people talking about it. One guy said it looked like a upgrade they were thinking about decided not to. Unmanned turret or something etc.

"The M1A3 Abrams is in the early design period with the U.S. Army.[11][27] The Army aims to build prototypes by 2014 and to begin to field the first combat-ready M1A3s by 2017."

M1A3 is still in testing phase. So.....

Also the saudi's have M1A2s.

Any future abrams are going to incorperate the lessons learned and developed in TUSK so...they should be pretty nasty to deal with.

It is an upgrade to the M1A2 Abrams, I have read unconfirmed reports the the USA did not upgrade our M1A2s because budget constraints , But that Saudi Arabia was buying them ( M1A3s ),which now they have the best version of the Abrams. The Army's plan was to let them buy the and that would keep the Abrams line open and that we would buy them at a later date. AND then the Gulf War 2 happened and the Lima Ohio plant received a lot of work ,but instead of calling it the M1A3 they called it M1A2 SEP V1,V2, & V3 (V= variant ) which had improvements on it for fighting in urban areas( IRAQ). There is also a possibility that the Army Will eventually convert all of the variants to the M1A3 in the future.
 

ltdanjuly10

New Member
a variant with an auto loader or increased ammunition storage space?. It kind of reminds me of the spaced armor that the germans put on there tanks during ww2

But I think the safest bet is that with the M1A3 in the works, somebody decided to bring an old CATTB prototype out of storage for whatever reason or maybe just moving it to a museum
 

GRACH25

New Member
Hello. I do agree by the way the hull, turret, and gun look, that it is a M1 CATTB. Nice video clip and a good find.
 

eckherl

The Bunker Group
Verified Defense Pro
a variant with an auto loader or increased ammunition storage space?. It kind of reminds me of the spaced armor that the germans put on there tanks during ww2

But I think the safest bet is that with the M1A3 in the works, somebody decided to bring an old CATTB prototype out of storage for whatever reason or maybe just moving it to a museum
This is a early test bed version with an auto loader and armor modifications. M1A3 my borrow some of the technologies from this test bed version seen in the clip.
 
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