The Strangest M1 Abrams Tank Variant

The M1 Abrams main battle tank has gained a significant amount of weight during its service life. The AbramsX demonstrator sought to address this, but that wasn't the first attempt at making a lightweight version. The Abrams Lightweight Variant Tank or ALVT made some drastic changes to the design, but was never adopted or made into a prototype.
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The Strangest M1 Abrams Tank Variant

[@Spookston]

Originally learned of this tank from Ronkainen on Twitter. He runs a great account that talks a lot about US armor. twitter.com/ronkainen7k15?t=J9H1MnF8v_7ssyeGXkp1Sw&s=09

[@Axofpik]

PvKv II

[@_jalmon_8482]

at 7:58 Do you think the commander's 50 cal could potentially be intended with a CROWS system? or would the dating let alone the weight not be something they would have considered?

[@TheArklyte]

While yes, ALVT would have been de facto new vehicle that would have complicated production and made it more expensive, it still had parts commonality that would have made it easier and cheaper to do. Just not with M1😅 You yourself make it clear in the video that ALVT and CATTB are a combo deal like M48/Centurion and M103/Conqueror. The first one is air transportable lighter tank that is easy to transport over Atlantic for reinforcements while the latter is that famous "we can't ship them fast in case of reinforcements, so let's make sure to have the best and most powerful ones already in place" kind of deal that M1 itself was designed to fill. So CATTBs would serve as MBTs and "tank destroyers" while ALVTs would serve as medium tanks and "assault guns" to support the troops. Same MTU pack, same suspension, same gun(design is the same, it's a bicaliber one so while barrels don't match, some parts do), same electronics and tracks. ALVT would have been "worldwide" and reinforcement tank while CATTB would have been NATO's "wall". And while some believed that Russia wasn't a threat anymore and was a future ally back in the 90's, even then some guy could have just bought T-80U with IR dazzlers, full coverage of Kontakt-5 and with Drozd APS(no such version with all those at the same time existed irl, but it's a plausible thing) and NATO or US could have ended up facing those.

[@Spookston]

​​@@TheArklytean you please stop copy-pasting the same comment? No, I did not make it clear that the CATTB and ALVT were a combo deal, as the CATTB program had already been cancelled for almost a decade by the time the ALVT concept came into being. You are speculating far too much.

[@COLT6940]

​@@TheArklytedimwit the paragraphs.

[@RandomWebDev]

This is why Spookston is my favorite war thunder youtuber. He actually knows what he's talking about, in game and vehicle history/reality

[@softbutter9467]

shame too, because it makes being a war thunder fun probably more frustrating for him. Gaijin hates America

[@osmacar5331]

spooky boy has a lot of sense and intelligence. excluding playing war thunder here.

[@panda1345]

@@softbutter9467 They really, really don't. I'd like to point out that over in the east Gaijin is called "Nato Shills" where as we call Russian Bias.

[@nickjayr0]

last videos intro was disappointing

[@softbutter9467]

@@panda1345 funny, never would have guessed that lol

[@memethief4113]

"this should be declassified by now" ...so is Spookston indirectly saying he has access to classified documents?

[@insurgentleman]

exactly what I thought

[@radiobaked]

Folks often conflate "declassification" with "delimitation" because those two designations often happen together within the scope of either a FOIA or Mandatory Declass review, but a large volume of information that is/has been subject to Automatic Declass will remain unreleased because of various laws, exclusions, or exemptions that may preclude public disclosure. It may be that he's quoting from a document that has undergone all the proper reviews but erroneously bears "Limited Distribution" markings (which gave him a moment of pause before he added it to his video anyway); he could be quoting from an unclassified technical document that is still subject to an Export Control regime (that'd be an oopsie); or, he could be quoting an actual classified document that he merely presumes is declassified simply because "well, it's older than me, so it's probably okay."

[@cameronmaccullam]

He’s a war thunder player we all have some on standby

[@TheArklyte]

What guy above said. Not really classified as much as not clear for being shared on internet for free. Think of it like all the medical research papers that aren't classified, but you need to get archive permission and pay the fee to view and aren't allowed to copy or take pictures of.

[@Alexander_Hodge]

Its actually a really easy file to find. It talks about turret protection, hull and the numbers to different threats, tandem heat, sabot etc aswell as protection degrees.

[@michaelhowell2326]

My drill sergeant for 19K OSUT was in the invasion of Iraq. He showed us some pictures where his tank had been hit by an Iraqi sabot round that was drilled into the turret.

[@aTomatoRider]

Dang! I'd give good money to see photos like those

[@TheArklyte]

​@God Does Not Exist they didn't, but it wouldn't have mattered. Ffs, people, do you really think that DoD never shot at M1 with M829 to see what will happen?😂 The impressive part is that iraqi crews were hitting them. Without proper FCS(since soviets didn't export it), with engagement distances chosen by americans, with being ambushed and on the move. Iraqi crews were still able to hit them. Besides it wouldn't have mattered that they didn't had the newest APFSDS rounds IF they were hit in, let me quote, "massive weak spot that Abrams has on the front" as tankies say. There were M1's that were hit on turret 5 times in a row and yet nobody hit said "weak spot" even once. Maybe because the way M1 positions itself in ambush in a certain way that it was designed to specifically exploit, uhm? /wink, wink, nudge, nudge/ Anyway, it's still a testament to skill of iraqi crews, who were let down by their soviet ie russian equipment. Meanwhile Russia claimed the opposite for decades and always blamed customers for using their weapons wrong😂

[@jamesedwardladislazerrudo1378]

​@@TheArklyte Russian and Chinese blaming combloc allies ?

[@user-op8fg3ny3j]

@@TheArklyte damn, those Iraqis really put up a good fight

[@justadude8716]

@@TheArklyte looks like some one got the old mans blood pressure up

[@MrArgus11111]

A 140mm gun? That Rheinmetall 130 is already "too big" in the eyes of a lot of a tankers (or that is my understanding), so that's really interesting. That would be one sturdy as hell autoloader. It would have to be. The shells would be enormous.

[@jintsuubest9331]

Autoloader been handling 15cm class for years easily. Tanker don't care if it is 120 130 or 140. They care whatever flying when shit goes boom can kill whatever the other side.

[@spartanonxy]

The reason some view the 130 as oversized at the moment is mostly due to the move away from MORE ARMOR for every problem and towards active protection. A 130 does not have really any advantage against such measures while also not having infrastructure and logistics in place that 120 does. In essence why use the bigger round if it wouldn't really change much expect for making your ammo supply less stable.

[@erikkusters378]

Yeah there would be no strong 18 year old with a strong arm that's gonna load that thing without "non Service related" live long back proplems.

[@TheKenji2221]

​@@erikkusters378 Imagine having to manually load a shell in 2023

[@clonescope2433]

​@spartanonxy I can see 130 and 140 having an advantage but also 120 could also have this with development of new rounds of basically shotgun rounds having Stoney projectiles alongside the actual main projectile

[@abitofapickle6255]

I remember my PLT SGT telling me a story when they were in Iraq. His tank ran over a soviet 155 shell that was retrofitted into an IED. The explosion was big enough to lift the turret up a little bit and shift it which trashed everything inside. He said it looked like the fist of posiedon smacked into the bottom of the tank. The hull was bent to the point that the driver couldn't get out of his hatch. They had to cut a path for him to get out. Crazy shit and his crew all survived.

[@user-op8fg3ny3j]

Those Iraqis got very crafty

[@abitofapickle6255]

@@user-op8fg3ny3j Very

[@Gerle71]

Small correction: the USSR didn't use 155 mm artillery, they had 152 mm. ;)

[@theonlylechuga]

​@@Gerle71 were you there? doubtful. and maybe he misremembered. leave him be

[@Gerle71]

@@theonlylechuga I was not there, but facts are facts, regardless of what you want. Leave the truth be.

[@halo43v3r7777]

“The hull ammo stowage was generally not used” Well that depends on what you define as “being used”. I’ve heard some interesting stories of people storing “souvenirs” in the hull ammo stowage when rotating out of country to avoid scrutiny on things they probably shouldn’t have to begin with.

[@kireta21]

Depends when that "was" is. They fell out of grace during Iraq 2.0, because they had nasty habit of turning lucky but relaitvely harmless pen into often severe leg burns, by causing propellant fire to burst out of its armored canister into crew compartment. Of course it's COIN thinking, where playing it safe is priority.

[@orangephoenixbrazier4978]

That's where you hide all your pogey bait.

[@danielconquer909]

We had six sabots in the hull storage and carried a full rack of heat and mpat in 2004 Iraq, never fired the sabots but we did keep the protective styrofoam covers for the DU in our sponson next to the MREs

[@oddforoddssake3751]

It's nuts to me as to how much potential that ALVT design had: Longer gun, transverse engine, new crew positioning, autoloader. Save for the amount of titanium needed in it's production (which is excessive), this would have been amazing! Imagine this thing with an RWS, ARAT ERA, gen 3 optics, APS and all the works nowadays... It sounds so cool! :D

[@TheArklyte]

Sorry, but I'll just copypaste my comment rather then writing new one. And sorry for wall of text: While yes, ALVT would have been de facto new vehicle that would have complicated production and made it more expensive, it still had parts commonality that would have made it easier and cheaper to do. Just not with M1😅 You yourself make it clear in the video that ALVT and CATTB are a combo deal like M48/Centurion and M103/Conqueror. The first one is air transportable lighter tank that is easy to transport over Atlantic for reinforcements while the latter is that famous "we can't ship them fast in case of reinforcements, so let's make sure to have the best and most powerful ones already in place" kind of deal that M1 itself was designed to fill. So CATTBs would serve as MBTs and "tank destroyers" while ALVTs would serve as medium tanks and "assault guns" to support the troops. Same MTU pack, same suspension, same gun(design is the same, it's a bicaliber one so while barrels don't match, some parts do), same electronics and tracks. ALVT would have been "worldwide" and reinforcement tank while CATTB would have been NATO's "wall". And while some believed that Russia wasn't a threat anymore and was a future ally back in the 90's, even then some guy could have just bought T-80U with IR dazzlers, full coverage of Kontakt-5 and with Drozd APS(no such version with all those at the same time existed irl, but it's a plausible thing) and NATO or US could have ended up facing those.

[@ryeo9907]

Haven't seen one of these in ages! The gameplay is fun but with the 2 week boycot this is great to see again. Can you do one on the NM-116 somewhere?

[@bryanfitzharris2468]

Wait it’s a two week boycott

[@megakirbo4250]

​@@bryanfitzharris2468 Yeah I didn't know that either. I've heard that it was only for the 26th, which in that case it would be pointless.

[@ryeo9907]

@@megakirbo4250 It sadly appears to be failing, but the numbers might be inflated artificially by Gaijin

[@marcusking3833]

@@ryeo9907 They're not inflating numbers ffs, it's not a giant conspiracy. It's just Reddit is a small selection of players. I'd wager most people are just casual people not active in the subreddit or any other social media. It's just people a) not actually boycotting and b) just simply not enough people know about it or care.

[@ryeo9907]

@@marcusking3833 I've checked once or twice. The numbers shown are always very delayed. So either i'm looking in the wrong places, my connection is garbage or it's that delayed on my end.

[@treloaria4295]

Spookston trying not to talk about the hstvl for 5 seconds challenge:

[@willkriegforkartoffeln4878]

A bass swam right up to me after I turned on the video. You're popular with fish.

[@sneakysnek8416]

Yay pellets :)

[@IWILLJUGGLEYOURBALLS]

Thank you for the pellets 🥹

[@willkriegforkartoffeln4878]

Update, there's two bass four sunfish at the bank now

[@wladislovsutyla992]

I can only imagine how much the per/unit cost would be when you replace that much with titanium

[@MrSparta93]

Great video as always Spooks. I have been requesting for a while that you look at some Asian vehicles like the K2 or Type10. You mentioned a bit about Japanese autoloaders. Would love to hear more!

[@gammafox5431]

I love hearing about these weird could-be vehicles, and even some concepts that non-service members have thought up that /aren't/ basically just "add more." Keep it up, looking forward to the next one!

[@man7912]

The XM8 seems like something you'd enjoy playing in War Thunder. Please consider

[@Cardinal8427]

He played the XM8 in his video on the CCVL

[@man7912]

@@Cardinal8427 I see. I must've missed that video.

[@Xeemix]

>New upload >Tank >Abbreviated with four letters Yup, thats a Spookston video alright haha, thanks for covering this! Very interesting stuff as always!

[@nathanscott4091]

Day 26 of asking for the SU100Y, my birthday has came and went I can now buy lotto tickets instead of SL crates

[@Marder_IFV]

Not today buddy it's boycotting day

[@Optimusprime56241]

Shoulda bought the su100y and played it yourself then

[@thatoneguy1741]

@@Marder_IFV still like almost a 100k players so it’s obviously not working lol

[@Marder_IFV]

@@thatoneguy1741 well that could be the players that don't care or don't know

[@duke0salt717]

Boy I've been requesting the Heavy Tank number 6 for months get the hell outta here

[@neck1156]

Dude, the older style video with the modern comedy and energy makes it so much better. Appreciate the content man, keep it up.

[@officialkingtamo8963]

‘This SHOULD be declassified at this point’ typical war thunder player quote

[@martabakcoding7784]

trying to reduce Abrams weight to 35 tons is basically trying to make Abrams almost as light as a T-34-85 with all the modern components. What a spectacular goal

[@corindolan1025]

LETS GO! I love these videos exploring tank prototype/concepts design and history. Keep up the great work!❤

[@certifiedboylover3428]

The only KZbinr I regularly watch. I’m here for any type of content you release man.

[@connordalton4553]

Might as well also mention that titanium's properties vary wildly depending on alloy, with one of its major flaws being that's brittle.

[@the7observer]

Abrams ALVT: I AM SPEED Abrams CATTB: T H I C C

[@frozenred3491]

5:41 "This should be declassified by this point" famous last words

[@purplebatdragon]

Just felt the need to praise how good the editing of these historical videos have gotten since the last one. Much more unique, visually engaging, and appropriate for the specific point being spoken. As cool as War Thunder is, I'm sure chunks of gameplay footage can come off as lazy. Not to mention the parallels with current Shorts/TikTok formats, lol. So thanks for continuing to grow your video skills!

[@vlotex]

Another history vid! Thank you Spooks!

[@slayo710]

Love these educational videos you make. Always interesting.

[@societalnormality2268]

I love your content. You're one of the few youtubers I watch every single episode asap on release. Keep it up!

[@averagejoe3065]

I love these informational videos! Amazing job!

[@zolarien]

Thanks for these vids bro. So smart man

[@nooblangpoo]

How about the M60-2000/120S? Basically an offered retrofit to M60 tanks by slapping on a new engine and a M1 export turret with 120mm gun.

[@Soultaker7]

@Spookston @7:21: that's not the CATTB. That's the M1 Thumper driving around Aberdeen Proving Ground - note the rings on the turret sides, not found on the CATTB testbeds. The Thumper predates CATTB Phase I by at least five years (Thumper was built in 1988, P1 in 1993 and P2 in 1994) and was the first to trial both the XM291 (in three different barrel lengths - one "short tube" that measured 5.3m/44 calibers like the M256, one "long tube" of 6.75m/265in and an intermediary one that was somewhere between the two others) and the XM91 autoloader. As for the XM291, work on the 140mm was stopped in the mid-nineties due to political reasons. It's since been completely supplanted by the EX36, which became the XM36 and finally the XM360. BAE and ARDEC's 2004 (M8-based) Thunderbolt with its ETIPPS 2 ETC ignition system only used the 120mm variant of the XM291, IIRC, with no 140mm barrel change.

[@Spookston]

I didn't say that was the CATTB

[@Spawnino]

@@Spookston sorry but why War thunder put abrams 10.3 :(

[@Hookens]

Missed those so much, thank you.

[@ryanhiatt4733]

If you want to read up on an odd ball Abrams variant look up the AGDS, never built but still an interesting read

[@RoryGuilesHoover]

"This should be declassified by this point" Great, now im scared spookston is going to get arrested

[@petn8211]

appreciate another video spook, thanks.

[@DeliciousDogMeat]

Remember that kid whose room was full of hobby model tanks? This is him now

[@SammyBun]

Very fun and informational video thanks i did not know plans for this existed.

[@BanditRookie]

5:38 "But this should be declassified by this point" And he was never heard from again.

[@strellettes8511]

LETS GOOOO. Waited a long time for another one of these.

[@JARV9701]

That "This should be declassified by now" moment may come to bite later. KV-2, Please/

[@user-ky3ic4td4b]

“I’m pretty sure this is declassified” -Spookston before being arrested by the FBI

[@lato5750]

"This should be declassified by now" BIG risk lol

[@tomthenot9786]

Hey i would love to see you design the ultimate abrams tank by taking the cattb, this and the abrams x's technologies and combining them together. Then you could also compare them to other modern day tanks and how this "super" abrams would perform in war thunder against the current vehicles.

[@TheArklyte]

You forgot TTB. Well for starters, it would have been a weird tank with space for 5 crewmembers, but needing only 3. It would also make majority of land vehicles in sci-fi look hopelessly obsolete 😂

[@tomthenot9786]

ah havent heard about that one but it looks odd... anyhow yea the "Super" M1 would be a lil too good

[@spiffywolf2850]

I enjoyed the video and it was cool to learn about but all those acronyms were confusing me lol. I got them all mixed up heh. Its cool you know so much about this though and im glad you have a platform where you can express your interest's with a community who has the same interest's.

[@manjirum]

10 mins of spookston is crazy

[@DustyVerzi]

Enjoy to have the history videos back

[@KhaledQara]

to bw able to understand spookston all the way in these types of videos while your baked is an achievement

[@joep2843]

"this should be declassified" oh no i love how this infers too that spookston, has classified military documents lying around

[@bornonthebattlefront4883]

Honestly one of my favorite types of videos

[@jazzgaming5721]

These type of videos are the best

[@joshuamueller3206]

These type of videos is why I subscribed in the first place.

[@christopherwang4392]

4:39 to 5:04 I am fascinated with the ALVT's four-man crew plus autoloader configuration. This predated Rheinmetall's Panther KF51 which is designed to be operated by a three-man crew with an autoloader, but has an extra seat next to the driver for an optional fourth crew member as a dedicated systems operator. It is possible that the ALVT's fourth crew member would have performed a similar role as a dedicated systems operator to help reduce the commander's workload along with assisting with maintenance and crew rotations.

[@MW-uj5ob]

love the C&C generals music very fitting

[@afterglowproductions8547]

"Transversal" also known as sideways. I- I can't even this is way too good.

[@CardinalMob]

Great video

[@FLJBeliever1776]

I've talked with some veterans of the Stryker units and I remembered something that Task and Purpose Chriss Chappy said and they both the same thing: The US Army may have a requirement for Air Droppable, but it rarely ever actually deploys its Armored Units by Parachute. Instead, it's more Air Mobility where the plane lands and unloads. And even that is uncommon compared to shipping the vehicles by Rail or Ship. The only time one of my buddies who was in the Army for 10 years and was a, admittedly helicopter, mechanic, he said most of their stuff was moved by Rail or Ship or by Truck. And he was deployed to both Iraq and Afghanistan and he doesn't recall seeing very many planes unloading AFVs and his work area was close to any point they would be doing so nor did he hear about it very often. Except for getting things into Afghanistan, nothing was really Air Mobile that would be Air Droppable.

[@MiseryKY]

i like these kinds of videos, non war thunder videos from you are a very welcome addition.

[@Nevverhere]

Could you do a review on the M1 AIM? Love your vids btw :)

[@romandrip9119]

Spookston continuously makes some of the best content on KZbin tell me im wrong

[@TheManOfMyriad]

Man the knowledge Spooky has is the best parts of his channel. It really is! I would love to see his knowledge spontaneously self-destruct upon witnessing Cursed Tanmk Simulator lmao

[@CocoLeCat]

Spokson upload at midnight 😎😎

[@HI-kb2cg]

"should be declassified at this point" - average war thunder player

[@williamthenoah5277]

I swear half the stuff I learn about tanks comes from Spookston

[@jaidenlopez9032]

Yes! More historical videos!

[@viper_f]

New Spookston video dropped babu I gotta get up

[@awesom6588]

its great to see another informative video! i love your deep dives on american armor. seems like america really started to take tank design a lot more seriously past the 80's, lots of wild concepts

[@noobiplays8539]

Bravo! Well done.

[@uneedahug8649]

spookston is so cool :D

[@MrTimebomb12]

The irony of Spookston uploading a video that isn't about WT on strike day

[@lucaswallace7476]

"This *should* be declassified at this po-" *FBI, OPEN UP!*

[@Kam1423]

Oh! I want to know more about stingray tank and why only thailand is now only one using it

[@adnanelamdouar643]

Hey Spookston! It may be a challenge but you should do a video looking into the R3 T20 project.

[@Xballawanaka]

Yay ! Happy to see a vehicle vid ! Fyi those are the only ones I watch

[@lippisch7983]

Is it just me or is there a subtle electric or like, fuzzy warble in the undercurrent of Spookstons microphone?

[@osmacar5331]

"if you don't know what that is" it's what the challi 2 uses, and the type 10, and K2 is just that on steroids. and for anyone curious, it's a dampener with a free-float piston in a nitrogen filled cylinder. the oil filled dampener offers very little or no spring rebound, the nitrogen free-float is the "spring". another thing is the pressure in the free-float chamber can be altered to adapt to the environment, attach a pressure pipe system in the tank, and you can make it a pimped out tank like the Type 10 and K2. this is obviously just a very reduced explanation and function.

[@T33K3SS3LCH3N]

3:00 sounds like they were trying to launch the RTX Abrams Ti

[@jester3633]

A video like this for the challenger 2 would be cool to see :]

[@kekto404]

Hey Spookston, can you do a video on the Waffentrager? As far as I´ve played it it has some really geriatric speed but the ammo is really nice at 5.7

[@cybernetic_crocodile8462]

About Abrams X, it is worth noting, that the reduction in mass comes mainly from the fact, that turret is lightly armoured. I kind of doubt, that army would accept such compromise, even if turret is unmanned.

[@BrockvsTV]

Thank you

[@anno-fw7xn]

a video about some of the leo 2 variants would be cool maby even the new leo 2a8

[@britishspy4791]

What’s even more strange is why the swing fire is not the most played vehicle

[@tigersympathiser2265]

The ATGM carrier?

[@lepain01]

20th video of asking spookston to play the Churchill NA75

[@cutegamerboy]

I know I’m in the right place when the poster says “I’m pretty sure this is declassified”

[@neromastic4512]

I am still curious what Spookston would think of the Obj 685 to use in a Video as Nobody made a video on it yet.

[@kriskay5020]

"this should be declassified by now" Several hours later "Latest Warthunder classified document leak"

[@shock_wave0114]

5:30 "im not quite sure how much I am allowed to share but..." how spookstoon becomes the next forums felon lol

[@BlackHawk21ification]

Gaijin about to add this prototype before adding french real Leclerc azur kit or the F2 ammo once again...

[@derritter3873]

A hydroneumatic suspension system you say? I hope it’ll be similar to the Type 10 or K2 with their systems to be able to adjust suspension. Although I understand it if it didn’t get that. I just love adjustable suspension.

[@benjaminbouyant2675]

Spookston, you're really nice.

[@johnmiley5607]

Hell yeah. spookin time.

[@hellbreaksloose5536]

can you do a video about the M1 with the L/55 gun?

[@Lancista]

*_Yohooo History Video._* 😍

[@yoface2537]

Idea: abrams with Christie suspension

[@hansiminator69]

Spookston making a video about the abrams without mentioning the HSTV-L challenge, impossible

[@hegemonycricket9549]

Very interesting video, but I see a huge drawback with the unmanned turret. That being situational awareness. It is a huge advantage for the TC and/or loader to be able to pop their heads up out of the hatch, and actually be able to put eyes on the environment. There is also the issue of close defense against dismounts. No amount of TV cameras and periscopes will ever be as good. There is also the issue of close defense against dismounts. How are they going to defend against bad guys mounting the tank, if infantry are not right there with them? It happens.

[@invictusangelica]

Can you cover how the Meggitt autoloader got installed? I've never seen images or documents on how it got installed on those test Abrams.

[@eliososa6878]

Tqm spookston