Just as a bit of nostalgia, I do keep track of military news. Been a soldier, not one now, don’t plan on being one again. I served with the 36th Infantry assigned to the 3rd ‘Armored Division, so I’ve been around a lot of tanks. In my day it was the M60, A-1 and A-2. The M1 Abrams is a real beast compared to the old M60’s, and they were nothing to sneeze at.
Of course, since there is money involved and that means possible kickbacks and payoffs in the manufacture and procurement, let’s look at a replacement first.
https://www.popularmechanics.com/military/weapons/a34588107/army-m1a2-abrams-tank-replacement-clues/
One must ask the question: Does the M1 Abrams need to be replaced? I can’t answer that, but I sure hope there are people asking that question and being serious about the shortcomings of the M1 and what the needs of armored troops really need. So we need to look at upgrade options and see if the needs can be met without spending a bundle on all new equipment. Not just for the tank, but for maintenance equipment and training, plus extras.
Please tell me someone is doing a cost/benefit analysis. We need the best for our war fighters, so let’s get the best and not waste any money or time getting it done.
Interesting. I am subscribed via email to your blog and a number of others. I am not receiving any notifications all of a sudden. Did WordPress pull another one?
Probably so. I noticed that some of the blogs I follow suddenly disappeared from my feed, so I checked and had to click again on the ‘follow’ button. In the age of Big Tech, you just never know.