Dominant Logistics
Abrams Ammunition
The M1 Abrams tank is widely regarded as just about the nastiest little tank on the planet. This is probably due to its tendencies to destroy the roads it passes over and to melt the skin off anyone getting too close to its rear. Ironically, most personnel familiar with this tank do not consider it to be mean enough - and they are correct.
The fundamental problem is its current family of main gun ammunition. It comes in two flavors - anti-tank, or for something different, anti-tank. There is not a single round of main gun ammo currently made in the U.S. for the Abrams that is not an anti-tank round, just in case you were wondering how the Army plans to use the Abrams. Obviously, the Abrams needs some additional options for main gun ammo. (Note: A couple of new rounds are currently in various stages of development but only one that I've come across is not a new anti-tank round).
The problem is that the Abrams uses a pretty exotic ammunition that is based on a design using a combustible case. The case of the ammunition is actually consumed in the reaction that occurs when the gun is fired. Consequently, designing and developing a wide variety of ammunition for this gun will be relatively expensive and time consuming unless we take a novel approach. We can dramatically expand the ammunition options of the Abrams with a single new shell design if we are willing to think a little outside the box.
The new shell would consist of a combustible case based around a sabot instead of a projectile. The sabot would be designed to accept the projectiles for 105mm semi-fixed artillery ammunition. For those not familiar with this ammunition type, the 105mm artillery cannon uses ammunition that is shipped in components and assembled in the field. You get the cartridge assembly with powder and primer inside, a fuse assembly, and a separate projectile. This allows you to tailor the round to the desired range and effect for each fire mission.
The proposed shell would use a combustible case that would include solid propellant charges like those used in newer artillery designs housed in an inert, combustible solid material to form the case. The charges would be fixed and we would go with the maximum charge compatible with all existing 105mm artillery ammunition. The sabot would function like the current 105mm shell casing to hold the projectile in place. A digital controlled fuse that could be set by the tank's fire control rounds out the system.
Most people don't realize that the 105mm guns in the infantry divisions are intended for direct fire use as well as indirect fire. Because of this, an entire family of rounds are available to meet nearly all of the proposed needs for future use of the Abrams. These include:
High Explosive - the basic blast fragmentation round used for artillery missions
High Explosive Rocket Assisted - an extended range blast fragmentation round
Smoke - a white phosporous round for pyrophoric effects
Illumination - a basic illumination round
APERS - a flechette round for short-range anti-personnel missions
DPICM - a dual purpose bomblet round
According the the Federation of American Scientists, there is even a round in surplus for delivering the leaflets that we send out instructing enemy soldiers in how to surrender. There are also a variety of chemical rounds that have been produced - while not useful in their current design, these could easily be used for delivering non-lethal products like sticky foam or for a FAE round. Another possibility is Ralph Zumbro's special round, the projectile is replaced with a quantity of automotive grease for flame effects.
With this approach, we develop one shell and one fuse (and add the necessary hardware to the tank for the new fuses) and we can add substantial new capabilities to the Abrams. The cost would be minimal but the capabilities gained would be extensive. And by sharing projectiles with the current 105mm artillery cannon, we can share the infrastructure for producing the ammunition.
The most expensive change would probably be adding the fuse controls to the tanks but with most proposals for modernizing the Abrams, this will need to happen anyways. Whether it is converting the coaxial to a 30mm cannon or using the OCSW or an ASP-30 in the commander's ring mount, we'll need these same fuse controls added to the tank to use these systems to their fullest potential. Added to the main gun with this family of ammunition, the capabilities of the Abrams go off the charts.
References:
http://www.g2mil.com/m1a3.htm
http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/munitions/120.htm
http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/munitions/105.htm
http://www.oocities.org/futuretanks/armorsachillesheel.htm