At the end of last December, the U.S. Army announced that it had ordered the start of mass production of the new 120mm M1147 ammunition, which would primarily be used by its fleet of M1A2 Abrams tanks. The decision was made by the Executive Director of the Joint Program Executive Office for Armaments and Ammunition (JPEO A&A), citing the effectiveness of the new projectile in the corresponding qualification tests and anticipating orders not only from the U.S. but also from its foreign partners.
Regarding this news, the current JPEO A&A, Major General John T. Reim, stated: “The approval of full-capacity production of the M1147 AMP projectile is a significant achievement that represents years of dedication from our team and our commitment to equipping soldiers with the best ammunition… As we continue producing this advanced projectile, the M1147 will play a crucial role in providing superior capabilities and increased lethality to the M1 Abrams main battle tank.”
For now, the new 120mm M1147 ammunition would provide Abrams tank crews with a system that is especially effective against enemy armored vehicles, as well as against enemy double reinforced concrete (DRCW) fortifications. According to the U.S. Army, this is made possible by the use of a new programmable fuse in the projectiles, which has three different possible uses: point detonation mode, point detonation delay mode, and airburst mode.
It is worth noting that this combines in a single projectile what was previously used in multiple types of ammunition, representing a significant benefit in terms of logistics and simplifying the tasks of the tank crew using them. In other words, this means that the M830 high-explosive projectiles, the multi-purpose M830A1 anti-tank cartridge, the M1028 Canister cartridge, and the M908 cartridge used against fortifications will now be available within a single M1147 projectile.
*Images used for illustrative purposes.
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