nzt1939@dsac.dla.mil (Mark Aldo) (10/08/90)
From: nzt1939@dsac.dla.mil (Mark Aldo) |From news Fri Oct 5 08:23:31 1990 |Path: dsacg3.dsac.dla.mil!dsac.dla.mil!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!att!cbnews!military |From: ab3o+@andrew.cmu.edu (Allan Bourdius) |Newsgroups: sci.military [stuff deleted] |The Chieftan tank is a 1960's design and I don't believe that Chobham |Armor was introduced until the late '70's-early '80's so I doubt they're |fitted with it. **No flames are intended with this response. Keep in mind that the M1/M1A1 began in the 1960s. In the mid-60s, the U.S. and (West) Germany began a joint-effort to design/build their tank 'for the 70s' --- originally, the so-called 'MBT-70', then the XM-803 (2?). They designed and haggled, haggled and designed, until the early 70s. The main problem was that the U.S. wanted to continue the use of the British-made M68 105-mm gun and possibly even utilize the 152-mm gun/missile launcher (currently used by the M-551 Sheridan), while the Germans wanted the tank fitted with the 120-mm smoothbore gun. Finally, the joint-effort split with the two countries going their separate ways: the U.S. took joint findings and developed the M1 Abrams, using the M68 105-mm maingun (later, the M1A1 using, ironi- cally, the German-made 120-mm smoothbore that the Germans originally wanted); meanwhile, the Germans took their joint findings and developed their Leopard II, with the 120-mm smoothbore for a maingun. The M1 it- self has been around since the '77-80 timeframe...yes, this is the late 70s, but by this time, Chobham armor had been around for awhile. I suspect that since most aspects of Chobham are still classified, it was around for several years prior to 'public' knowledge. The M1 is not the first tank to have Chobham. In fact, I would speculate that Chobham has been around since the early 70s, because I heard about it in '75-76. As I stated earlier, the M1 is basically a 60s design; however, the ever-changing technologies were adapted to the M1 as it evolved from MBT-70, through the XM-803, maybe even XM-709 (?), on to the M1. The original turret (MBT-70) had a more 'rounded/curved' look than the current 'angled/sloped' turret (M1/M1A1). If I stand to be corrected, so be it....facts, figures, and comments are appreciated ;-) -- Mark Aldo UUCP: (osu-cis)!dsacg1!waldo INTERNET: waldo@dsac.dla.mil "...Hotel Quebec One Six...You are clear to begin your night run on Range Eight Zero....Good luck, good shooting...Tower, out" -- radio transmission from Control Tower - Range 80 at Grafenwoehr, Germany