As I had even in years past, it's always been my
posted intention to repost from the "
Patch Thread" the items submitted to their respective equipment threads so the
players can comment as they wish once all the issues have been hashed out between us.
Just haven't always done it is all.
Except for the
FLW 200 issue we discussed in advance to me posting it we're done.
To
FEP, yes, we discussed maintaining the
non-TROPHY FEP tanks due to an opening created by a
couple of articles talking about tanks in pre-deployment locations and that was being generous at best on our part.
You and I even posted on the fact that we saw no TROPHY SYSTEMS mounted on any USMC tanks being shipped back to the Army.
Would you like for me to find it??
But you along with a small handful of others
SHOULD know if
TROPHY APS mounted on those tanks than when I built them
they would've been submitted as such.
So, I leave you with the following and the understanding I have plenty more if needed.
From 25 September 2020...
https://www.navalnews.com/naval-news...oes-that-mean/
"The U.S. Marine Corps Were (Mine-WERE) Upgrading their M1A1s
According to Marine Times, the Marine Corps were (Mine-WERE again) in the process of upgrading their M1A1s with:
A slew-to-cue feature that allows the Tank Commander to move the 120mm main gun to where the Commander’s .50cal heavy machine gun is pointed to.
Improved Gunner’s Primary Sight Day and thermal cameras that allows for better resolution and to see further out. A new color camera and color display that allows for better color differentiation than the previous green and black color camera and display.
A new Gunner’s lower panel that allows the M1A1s to use two new types of ammunition developed by the U.S. Army.
New tactical communications radios."
And no TROPHY mentioned. This upgrade boils down to they would've had improved TI/GSR and Ammo that's all. I actually was tracking on this since the FEP tanks lead me down the "rabbit hole" that lead to all things ABRAMS during the 2019/2020 Oh I don't miss it Campaign as I'm sure Don doesn't miss it either. But in the end the CORPS shut me down.
That I'll have to "cull" from the
MBT Thread and reverse it into well you know where.
TROPHY has me all fired up now. So, here's the
timeline from the Contract section... 
"
July 21/20: Active Protection System-Trophy General Dynamic Land Systems won a $44.4 million contract modification external link to procure improved fire control electronics units in support of the Abrams expedited active protection system-trophy. M1A1/2 Abrams main battle tank is manufactured by General Dynamics Land Systems (GDLS). The first M1 tank was produced in 1978, the M1A1 in 1985 and the M1A2 in 1986. Army and Marine units
intend to use Trophy APS-equipped Abrams main battle tanks to disrupt/destroy certain classes of enemy fire while safely maneuvering across the full range of military operations.
Work will take place in Tallahassee, Florida. Estimated completion date is October 1, 2022.
https://www.defenseindustrydaily.com...updated-02834/"
Now here's the
inconvenient truth to go with the above this reference looks at the progress made up to
April 2021...
"After the
March 2020 release of Force Design 2030, Commandant of the Marine Corps Gen. David Berger today released an annual update to the document that lays out the progress already made and the steps still to come, as the service continues to learn more about what it will need to deter evolving threats in the Pacific and around the globe."
Scroll down to
Page 4 Ground Combat Element "Bullet 6"
"
Completed the divestment of
2 AC (Mine-
Active Component) and
1 RC (Mine-
Reserve Component) tank
battalions."
That's all your tanks gone in one year! And no one can say this "
squares" with the DID ref above that the USMC had non-test bed/operational tanks equipped with
TROPHY. Not even "
Father Time" can change that timeline.
https://news.usni.org/2021/04/26/mar...n-in-the-field
https://s3.documentcloud.org/documen...esign-2030.pdf
(Page 4 Bullet 6)
Regards,
Pat
