![]() ![]() ![]() The other two were scuttled to prevent their capture after being damaged. Of the nine Abrams tanks destroyed during Desert Storm, seven were destroyed by friendly fire. Combined with advanced Chobham composite armor, night vision optics, and modern rangefinders, the Abrams easily outclassed the Iraqi T-55, T-62, and T-72 tanks. Originally equipped with a 105mm rifled main gun, the M1A1 tanks that took part in Desert Storm were upgraded to a 120mm smoothbore main gun that fired an armor-piercing fin-stabilized discarding-sabot round. Despite being one of the heaviest tanks in modern service, its multi-fuel turbine engine can propel it to a limited top speed of 45 mph. Built to slug it out with Soviet T-72 and T-80 tanks, the Abrams entered service in 1980 to replace the M60 Patton tank. Since the Marine Corps divested its tanks in 2020, the Army is now the sole American operator of the Abrams. The M1 Abrams is to the Army what the F-15 Eagle is to the Air Force: iconic. ![]()
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