The heaviest exhibit at Land Forces 2024 was indisputably an M1A2 SEPv3 Abrams main battle tank. This brand-new example had moved from the city’s port to the exhibition centre after recently arriving in Australia from California by cargo ship.
The tank on display, with serial number ‘277002’, possessed a Kongsberg CROWS-Low Profile weapon station, giving Australian Abrams commanders their first-time ability to fire a machine gun from under armoured protection. The first batch of Abrams delivered to Australia is believed to number 27 vehicles.
While no Trophy active protection system (APS) is fitted on this tank, vehicles are fitted for future installation of Rafael’s system. Earlier, Lt Gen Simon Stuart, the Army Chief, confirmed to Asian Military Review that APS is planned.
Australia’s tanks mate newly manufactured turrets with refurbished hulls. The M1A2 SEPv3 is some five tonnes heavier than M1A1 AIM variants hitherto operated by the Australian Army; they tip the scales at 66 tonnes when combat loaded. An Australian Army representative said this is due to greater armour protection. In fact, the floor beneath the tank at the exhibition centre had to be reinforced to bear its weight!
Australia is obtaining 75 M1A2 SEPv3 tanks under Project 907. This renamed programme combines Project Land 907 Phase 2 (Abrams tanks) and Project Land 8160 Phase 1 (29 M1150 Assault Breacher Vehicles [ABV], 17 M1074 Joint Assault Bridges [JAB] and six additional M88A2 armoured recovery vehicles).
These heavy armoured vehicles will predominantly equip the 2nd Cavalry Regiment of the army’s 3rd Brigade in Townsville. Last year’s Defence Strategic Review initiated an army-wide restructure that concentrates heavy armour in the 3rd Brigade.
The new Abrams tanks will reach the School of Armour in Puckapunyal later this year, and the Department of Defence confirmed they will deploy to Townsville in 2025. Meanwhile, the ABVs and JABs will start reaching the 3rd Combat Engineer Regiment from around March 2025.
With the addition of six extra M88A2 HERCULES armoured recovery vehicles from BAE Systems, Australia will have 19 such systems in service.
The Australian Army disagrees with the notion that main battle tanks are no longer viable on battlefields where antitank missiles and loitering munitions proliferate. The army said the new M1A2 SEPv3 is “highly lethal, survivable, networked and manoeuvrable. Its combination of accurate fire, protection, cross-country mobility and situational awareness cannot be delivered by any other platform.”
The fate of Australia’s 59 M1A1 AIM Abrams tanks remains unclear, although the army has salvaged parts from the incumbent fleet.
by Gordon Arthur, Melbourne
