Subsequent M1s were upgunned with the German Rheinmetall smoothbore cannon of 120mm. The earliest M1s were armed with the M60's 105mm rifled cannon, a British design first adopted to the final versions of the old M48 series. It was constructed of flat armor sections welded together, rather than armor castings, the method used in earlier U.S tanks. The M1 wasįaster and more maneuverable than its predecessors in the M60 series, while offering a lower, smaller silhouette. Other materials capable of defeating HEAT rounds in addition to kinetic energy penetrators.
Its most impressive feature was its special armor, a composite "sandwich" of steel and The original M1 revolutionized the Army's combat capabilities and marked a turning point in U.S. Meanwhile, the unit was to receive M1A2s as replacements.
The Fort Knox armor unit's 10 M1s being retired from active duty were rebuilt as M1A2s. It was the last active duty unit to carry this model in its inventory. HHC, 2-81 Armor of the 1st Armor Training Brigade at Fort Knox used this early model of the M1 to train National Guard and Reserve units. The last original model of the M1 tank was retired from duty in the active Army in September 1996. The SEP embeds digitization capabilities inside the Abrams' electronic architecture, eliminating the requirement for electronic appliques. In 1999 the Army began upgrading M1s to the M1A2 System Enhancement Program (SEP) configuration. An additional 580 M1s were upgraded to A2s under a five-year contract awarded in FY1996, with a total of 998 M1 upgrades. The Army converted 368 older M1s to M1A2s. The first M1A1's were delivered to units in August of 1985. By 1985, evaluations of field service had prompted the first modification requests, and production shifted to the M1A1. After two years of acceptance trials, the first of these vehicles was delivered to the US Army on February 28, 1980. Army's MBT-70 program, the first M1 rolled off the assembly line in 1978. Designed in the 1970's by the Land Systems Division of the General Dynamics Corporation in response to the U.S.
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