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Marine Corps Systems Command is modernizing the tank commander's
weapon station on the M1A1 tank by developing a suite of systems
that give tank commanders and their gunners a hunter-killer edge
over their enemies.
The new Abrams Integrated Display and Targeting System, Tank
Commander Single Handle and slew-to-cue capability make up the
modernized trifecta that cuts time to enemy engagement by half while
increasing accuracy, range and lethality on the battlefield.
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July 19, 2016 - Marines with Company A, 4th Tank Battalion, 4th
Marine Division, Marine Forces Reserve, fire a M1A1 Abrams Main
Battle Tank during their annual training at Marine Corps Base Camp
Pendleton, Calif. Marines fired the tanks to adjust their battle
sight zero before the main event of their annual training. (Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Gabrielle Quire)
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ABRAMS INTEGRATED DISPLAY AND TARGETING SYSTEM
Responding
to feedback from Marines, the Abrams Integrated Display and
Targeting System, or AIDATS, upgrades the thermal and day sights on
the stabilized commander's weapon station through a
state-of-the-art, high-definition camera and permanently mounted
color display.
“The most significant benefit—the main reason
why AIDATS was started—is the color display,” said Michael Kreiner,
AIDATS project officer in MCSC's Armor and Fire Support Systems.
“Users didn't like the black and white camera that was in the tank
before, because they have a hard time distinguishing between
different color trucks.”
In battle, situational awareness is
key for tank commanders. Kreiner and his team are leveraging
technology currently available in the marketplace to provide a
thermal sight that can be used around the clock and provide a color
day camera with a color display.
“The thermal sight can be
used for 24 hours,” said James Shaffer, systems engineer in AFSS.
“It has low light capabilities, can see through obscurants, and
works in the diverse environments under adverse weather conditions.”
The display for both upgraded thermal and day sights will be
hard mounted in front of the tank commander, allowing him to
minimize extra movement and focus on the action. Better optics
enable commanders to increase identification and detection range
while in the tank, which will improve situational awareness.
With AIDATS, tank commanders will have double the identification
range with thermal sight and triple the identification range for the
day sight, said Gunnery Sgt. Dennis Downes, M1A1 project officer in
AFSS.
“AIDATS also has an azimuth indicator that will allow
the tank commander to identify where his weapon is in relation to
the vehicle at that moment,” said Downes. “On the legacy system, the
tank commander had no situational awareness of where the weapon
system is in relationship to the turret.”
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July 21, 2016 - Marines with Company A, 4th Tank Battalion, 4th
Marine Division, Marine Forces Reserve, assume their battle
positions in M1A1 Abrams Main Battle Tanks during their annual
training at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, Calif., the day before
their culminating event. The culminating event was comprised of both
offensive and defensive operations against a notional adversary,
where 4th Tank Bn. took the lead as the most heavily armored asset.
During the event, the tanks formed screen lines, a stationary force
that established a series of positions along a designated line to
provide overlapping observation and lines of fire. (Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Gabrielle Quire)
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TANK COMMANDER SINGLE HANDLE
In addition to
providing tankers better line of sight, the AFSS team is
improving tank handling for the commander.
“There's currently
one set of controls for the stabilized commander's weapon
station and another set of controls to operate the turret,”
Downes said. “Combining the two handles into one gives the
commander a better workspace.”
Reducing the number of
handles the tank commander controls increases the overall
efficiency of the system, leading to faster engagement
times, he said.
SLEW-TO-CUE
The third upgrade
to the tank commander's weapon station has yet to be
officially named, but the AFSS team currently refers to it
as “slew-to-cue.” This new capability enables the tank
commander to move the turret, typically controlled by the
gunner, over to a target with the push of a button.
“With slew-to-cue, the tank commander can push a button on
his single handle and, as long as the gunner has his handles
engaged, the turret will automatically slew to what the
commander is looking at on the 0.50-cal machine gun sight,”
said Kreiner.
This additional capability allows the
commander to assist the gunner when the tank is moving,
making it easier to manipulate the turret toward a target,
said Shaffer. Preliminary tests show the three systems used
together reduce target engagement time from six seconds to
three seconds. The team hopes to field all three systems
simultaneously in the first quarter of 2018. Currently, the
team is conducting qualification testing on five
demonstration AIDATS systems at the Aberdeen Proving Ground
in Maryland.
“We're pushing the envelope where you
can actually see the target, identify it and engage it at a
farther range,” Kreiner said. “All three things combined
will significantly reduce the engagement time, and
essentially give tank commanders and their gunners a
hunter-killer system.”
AFSS equips Marines with fire
support systems, High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems,
Expeditionary Fire Support Systems, tank systems,
information-related capabilities and radar systems to
accomplish their warfighting mission.
By Ashley Calingo
Marine Corps Systems Command
Provided
through DVIDS
Copyright 2016
The U.S. Marines
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