Is there any truth to the new “armor” package just being counter weights? If so, why put one on the hull?
Good question. I have no clue. I have only seen pics and read a few articles on the US getting TROPHY. Probably the same articles you have read. Some of these articles show added plates to the turret and hull front, some just the hull front, and others no added plates at all. I am not sure which will be the final version nor what the plates are for.
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I have seen the M1A2SEPV2 in Poland on an exhibition equipped with with the Trophy (the crew told that it was a mock-up only). Anyhow, I haven’t seen any added armor on the hull of that vehicle.
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On a side note, after the IDF, US Army and Bundeswher, the British Army could be the fourth user of Trophy as the UK Department of Defense is considering to equip some of its Challengers with Rafael’s offering as part of their modernisation program.
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When it was first in testing at least there was weight added to the turret and the lower glassis… I assumed it was for an armor upgrade.
when the M1IP was first just starting up, they took some to Alaska. They had this really wild looking camo paint job that was a charcoal and white. We had some photos of it at work (three foor by five foot). It was nothing similar to the one in the photo you posted. Most IP’s at the time were a strait forest green color
gary
This is not a new paint job. These were USMC M1A1s a few years ago on a winter training exercise in Norway. They applied temporary water-soluble white paint for camo. It was posted here at the old Armorama when it was new, in Nov '16.
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The added armor plates is to counterbalance the center-of-gravity of the turret with Trophy APS on the sides. I think that was mentioned previously on Armorama…not sure. This is especially important when the M1A2 SEP turret with Trophy APS is firing off to the side 90-degrees or 180-degrees so as not to lift the hull and to balance the recoil evenly.
As to the new M1A2SEPv3 “armor package,” I don’t know if it’s as simple as welded steel front added on or an entirely new Chobham package.
The US Army likes to say that no new breakthrough developments in armor have been made, but that is hooey because the newest US Navy subs have HY100 steel (100 Kilopounds per square inch or 1,000 units of pounds per square inch). Yes, HY100 steel is expensive, but it’s high-hardness/high impact. And there has been breakthroughs in armor technology that the US Army doesn’t talk about, and probably hasn’t put into practice yet. Heck, the Russian T-14 “Armata” family has new breakthroughs in armor technology.
My Avatar is of a M1A2SEP Version 3.
Not exactly pertaining to the original question but found some nice information on the Trophy system including what look to be legit engineering drawings for the M1 turret, which I’m always on the lookout for.
From Sturgeon’s House website Contemporary Western Tank Rumble! - Page 24 - Mechanized Warfare - Sturgeon's House page 24 & 26. I was especially happy to see this
which will help in depicting this
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