US Tanks have two gunnery sights. The primary, often referred to as the "gunner's head assembly" is the square box positioned in front of the TC's hatch. This assembly has two armored doors, the one on the right protects the thermal sight and the one the left protects the day sight. Inside the turret, these share the same eyepiece which has a aiming point with lead lines and elevation lines. It is possible to use the sight without the ballistic computer, its just damned hard due to the fact that gunnery w/o the computer is not stressed. While I was familiar with the layout of the aiming point and lead lines, I never received training and practise in its use until I attended gunnery school at Fort Knox.
The second sighting system is known as the "Gunner's Auxiliary Sight" and is a telescope mounted co-ax with the cannon. It uses a sighting reticle similar to older sights (roughly 1960s). Training in my day had the gunner switch from the primary to the GAS as soon as there were any problems with the primary. Its harder to use, but any gunner with their salt could hit the target within 1-3 rounds.
The only other tank that you mentioned that I have any experience with is the Leo II. But like the M-1, there is an auxiliary sight in case of any electronics screwup. I have actually shot a gunnery in the Leo's gunner's seat and while I loved the ability of the TC to select and range to a second target while the gunner is engaging the first, I always thought that the Leo II was not as effective a gunnery system as the M-1. My two cents.
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The reason that the American Army does so well in wartime, is that war is chaos, and the American Army practices chaos on a daily basis.
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