US Army displays new version of Abrams Tank at Detroit Auto Show

The new Abrams was put on display in Detroit because of the involvement of several Michigan based companies, including Roush Enterprises and General Dynamics Land Systems. (Photo: US Army)

• US Army unveils new M1E3 Abrams tank with hybrid engine and advanced defenses
• Tank design uses commercial tech, reducing weight by 25% and fuel needs by 50%
• Army aims to deliver the new tank to soldiers within two years

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The US Army unveiled a new version of its iconic Abrams tank at the Detroit Auto Show in what it hopes will be an example of a new, more streamlined way of producing major new weapons systems.

General Dynamics Land Systems’ M1E3 Abrams has a new transmission, a new hybrid engine, defensive systems that can shoot down enemy missiles and a Formula One-style cockpit. It’s the work of more than 10 companies including the defense unit of Caterpillar Inc., whose engine replaces Honeywell International Inc.’s AGT1500.

The project is important enough to the Pentagon that the new tank received an inspection from Army Chief of Staff General Randy George, who took his post in 2023 with a mandate to overhaul and speed up the notoriously slow — and often over-budget — procurement timeline.

“It’s not as fast as the Corvette upstairs,” George told a crowd in front of the tank, which was on display in the basement of the auto show pavilion — because it was too heavy to be put anywhere else. “But it can take out a target at a quarter mile in a tenth of a second. It can shoot an apple sitting on a fence at three kilometers, a good distance.”

The new Abrams was put on display in Detroit because of the involvement of several Michigan based companies, including Roush Enterprises and General Dynamics Land Systems.

Among the many programs George has scrapped during his tenure were plans to upgrade the Army’s 40-year-old M1 Abrams, which was already delayed. Instead, he funneled those resources into the pursuit of a new tank variant redesigned to be lighter, more mobile and powerful and better protected.

That push began before President Donald Trump returned to office but dovetails with his demand that defense companies spend less on stock buybacks and dividends and more on research and development. Administrations have for decades tried to avoid weapons boondoggles and eliminate wasteful programs, with limited success.

The Army awarded a contract to General Dynamics Land Systems, the tank’s original manufacturer, in spring 2024 to shape requirements and work on a preliminary design for the new variant. The idea was for it to become operational alongside the service’s Bradley Infantry Fighting Vehicle replacement, the M30 Mechanized Infantry Combat Vehicle, expected in the early 2030s.

Soon after George became Army chief, he learned in a meeting with the services’s program office for ground combat systems that a new tank variant would likely take at least five more years for the first one to be built. Afterward, he said: “In one year, we want to have a new tank and the battlefield is changing rapidly and we knew we needed this capability.”

So in spring of last year, the Army announced it wasn’t going to just pursue a new variant but do so faster rather than adhering to a meticulous decade-long technology maturation process where programs often get hung up. The Army is now trying to cut that timeline to getting the tank to soldiers in as little as two years.

The new variant’s design began with a digital backbone. “We really started with the software and then wrapped everything around this,” George said. He added that the Army had already managed to reduce the tank’s weight by 25% and has reduced fuel requirements by 50%. A decision to use readily available commercial technology contributed to the rapidity of the process and made it more nimble, according to the Army.

The service so far is unable to provide official cost projections for the M1E3. But Army leaders in Detroit said a relatively small amount had been spent so far, roughly $75 million, to develop the new variant including building the tank it took to the auto show.

Now the ultimate test involves soldiers actually operating the tank in realistic environments. “Having them fire this and maneuver with this, live in it, get in, do their combat missions,” George said, “that’s when we really find out and we make adjustments.”