Abrams drivers hatch

Armor/AFV Modern
1

I have a Question about the drivers hatch on the M1A1 and M1A2
I have noticed a prominant lip on the egde of the the drivers hatch of my Tamiya M1A2 SEP and other Abrams kits is that aslo prominant on on the Early M1A2 kits and M1a1

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second pic is the drivers hatch from Tamiya’s earlier M1A2
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now my question is that second pic would that hatch be accurate for a Saudi M1A2 and Egyptian and Iraqi M1A1 since they are earlier production varients?

2

Should be. None of the tanks I was on (M1A1s) had that lip.
Ken

3

Thank you

4

The hatches with the lips are new versions. You can find them on later M1A1 variants such as the AIM and M1A2s. The loaders hatch was also modified at the same time. This was to assist in preventing the hatches from leaking. It was one of the crew requests during A2 testing, Laser safe vision blocks were available on the A2 on all versions. The became available to the A1s in 90’s post Desert Storm. We started getting them as replacements in the mid 90s. So pre AIM M1A1s may have a mix of laser safe and regular vision blocks,

1 Like
5

Now is where the question comes in did early export M1A1 to Egypt ( Egypt was a licenced builder) and Iraq and M1A2 to Saudi Arabia have those lips on the drivers hatch

6

Egypt was licensed to manufacture early M1A1s I did find a pic from 2011. They received design upgrades at least through the 1990s, so with the exception of the armor package they are M1A1HAs. No upgraded hatches. Saudi Arabia received the M1A2S which is the M1A2 sep V1 with the export armor package. Yes they received the upgraded hatches.