The United States Army decided to develop a new tank that could compete with and defeat the tanks of the Soviet Union. Several projects initially began in an attempt to replace the aging M60 tank, which entered service in 1960. After several attempts, the US Army awarded a contract to General Dynamics to produce the MA Abram tank. The M1 tank has been continuously improved and has proven to be one of the most effective and important military combat vehicles in battle. Introduced into service in 1980, the M1 Abram main battle tank (MBT) was named after General Creighton W. Abrams who served as chief of staff of military forces in Vietnam from 1968 to 1972 (Federation of American Scientist, 2000). The M1 Abram was the lightest of the three tanks weighing 60 tons and this allowed it to be the fastest being able to reach a maximum speed of 45 mph. The vehicle could travel 310 miles on a full tank of fuel. It took four soldiers to operate the tank and the main armament was a 105mm M68A1 rifled cannon. The Abram was protected by a 350 mm hull, which made it almost impossible to penetrate. The Commander was equipped with a .50 caliber M2 machine gun, the coaxial weapon was a 7.62 M240 machine gun, and the loading weapon was a 7.62 M240 machine gun mounted on a skid mount (Federation of American Scientist, 2000) . The 7.72 M240 machine guns could be fired with the computerized fire control system from inside the tank. The 105 mm main gun was very effective as it was capable of lethally hitting a target beyond 3 kilometers or 1.9 miles. All Abrams were equipped with a computerized ballistic fire control system that ensured the gunner had 95% accuracy (Federation of American Scientist, 2000). the members inside are safe. Clay (2007) stated that although its mission was very dangerous and many thought they would not return to the United States alive, the engineering of the M1 Abram made their mission a success without the loss of life. Works CitedAntal, J (2001). Hervivores or carnivores? Military Technology 201 vol. 35(3), 12-16Basso, J. (1998). M1A2: One Year Later, January-February Armor, 31-34Bourque, S.A. (1997). Correcting Myths About the Last Persian Gulf War: The Tawakalna's Last Stand. The Middle East Journal 51(4).Clay Anderson Collection (ACF/2001/001/311), (29 May 2007) Veterans History Project, American Folklife Center, Library of CongressFederation of American Scientist. (2000, April 14). Battle of the M1 Abrams Main Battle Tank: Retrieved October 8, 2011, from: http://www.fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/land/m1.htm