The 60-Ton Tank That Starts Up Like a Jet | M1 Abrams

A sixty-ton tank with a gas turbine from the same family as helicopter engines. Why did the U.S. Army choose it in 1976, and what did that choice cost? This is the story of the M1 Abrams: the cancelled MBT-70, the diesel-versus-turbine trials, the general it was named after, and what happens inside it, from the recuperator that recycles exhaust heat to a 120 mm round loaded by hand, a dart that leaves the muzzle at more than 1,500 m/s, and a roof that is designed to blow off. Interactive 3D model: coming to the Armatome archive site. The link will be added here. Chapters 0:00 Cold open 0:43 The turbine bet 1:50 Inside the turbine 3:01 The gun 4:10 The roof that blows off 5:18 The stabilizer 5:50 Forty years on Armatome takes machines apart so you can see why they work: 3D animation, X-ray cutaways and real archive footage. This is an educational engineering and history channel. We explain how things work; we never show how to build, convert or modify weapons. Image & footage credits: Public domain (U.S. Department of Defense / DVIDS / U.S. Government; photographers listed on each Commons or DVIDS page): Footage: Sgt. Jacob Nunnenkamp (M1A2 SEPv3, Finland 2023), SFC Arturo Guzman (remote-fire exercise), Antonio Vincent (aerial gunnery, 2016) — DVIDS Gen. Creighton W. Abrams portrait: Herbert E. Abrams, U.S. Army Center of Military History Photos: U.S. Army, USMC, USAF, USN, DoD / NARA, incl. Sgt. James Dunn, 1SG Austin Berner, SSG Ariel Solomon, PHC D. W. Holmes II, Frank Stemple, Brian Hahn, Sgt Paul L. Anstine II, SSgt Bobby Yarbrough, Spc. Charles Probst, SSgt Reeve, SFC Brent Hunt, MSgt Howard J. Farrell, Cpl. Scott Schmidt, Spc. Christian Carrillo, Spc. Devin Klecan, LCpl Garry J. Welch, SP4 Dwight Carter, Watertown Arsenal Licensed images (Wikimedia Commons): "Kampfpanzer 70 (DPM)" by Suit, CC BY-SA 4.0 "Lycoming T53-L-1 Turboshaft Engine" by Sanjay Acharya, CC BY-SA 4.0 "T58-IHI-10M2 turboshaft engine (cutaway)" by Hunini, CC BY-SA 4.0 "M1A2 SEPv2 Abrams with Trophy mock-ups, MSPO 2021" by Michał Derela, CC BY-SA 4.0 CC0: "Vier Leopard 2A4 tanks COKL" (Dutch MoD); "Jsmcentrance" (Jade Phoenix Pence) Sound effects: Freesound.org, CC0 — adr1911 (real M1A1 turbine start-up), qubodup, craigsmith, cognito perceptu, KieranKeegan, Irolan, GaryQ, LilMati, Kostrava The appearance of U.S. Department of Defense visual information does not imply or constitute DoD endorsement. #M1Abrams #Tank #HowItWorks