[RN7]

Originally Posted by StainlessSteelCynic

I would argue that just because we are unaware of what armour the Australian M1A1 AIM SA variant is using, does not automatically mean any damned thing at all.

The M1A1 AIP SA V1 does not have DU armour.
The M1A1 AIP SA V2 does have DU armour.

An M1A1 tank with DU armour is a far better protected tank.

Originally Posted by StainlessSteelCynic

We don't know what armour it has because the Australian government and military is not telling us. What they have told us is that it is not DU and for those of us who live here, we see that the political situation here means that if the public found out that a politician had lied to us about depleted uranium, it would be the kiss of death for that politician and their party in the next election and probably the election after that.

That may be so but the Australian government has abstained from voting in UN resolution to restrict or ban the use of depleted uranium weapons.

Originally Posted by StainlessSteelCynic

The Abrams we operate are not identical configuration to the M1A1 AIM SA model that the US initially offered. The Australian Abrams are a mix of US Army and USMC features. The Australian Abrams are fitted with a refrigeration unit, refrigeration power unit, various USMC fittings for wading,exhaust deflector, infantry telephone, elements of the TUSK system, elements of the SEP system and various other fittings to make it more suitable for the Australian bush, jungle and urban environments.
These vehicles are for all intents and purposes, bespoke.

The M1A1 AIM SA V.2 uses DU armour. All US Army and US Marine Abram's tanks are fitted with DU armour.

The Australian Army lists its Abram's as weighing 62 metric tonnes (68.2 US tons) including most of what you stated. Some US variants of the Abram's are heavier than the Australian version.

Originally Posted by StainlessSteelCynic

The weight of 63,500 tonnes (69.9 Tons) is loaded combat weight. Australian tanks have often had a higher loaded combat weight than the same vehicle from other armies because in Australian service we tend to carry a hell of a lot more fuel and water per individual vehicle as well as having extra stowage bins for spares. Note that a US Army configured M1A1 AIM is listed with a weight of 67.6 Tons. I don't see that extra 1.4 ton on Aussie Abrams as automatically proving the use of DU armour.

What the Australian Army or any other army carries (fuel, water etc) on its tanks after they are fitted out is not included in the official listed weight of a tank.

Were did you get these figures from? The only weight I have ever seen for an Australian Abram's is 62 metric tons (68.2 US tons). They used to be listed online as 68.2 tons before that figure was mysteriously retracted from the internet.

The M1A2 SEP is listed as 63.5 metric tonnes (69.9 US tons) on Wikipedia. Is this where you got your figures from? If that is so the Australians do not use the M1A2 SEP. The figure you gave for the US Army M1A1 AIM at 67.6 tons is also listed on Wikipedia.

Non-DU Abram's all weigh less than 66 tons

M1: 60 tons
M1IP: 61 tons
M1A1 Block 1: 63 tons
M1A1 AIM v.1: 63.5 tons
M1A1M (Iraq): 63 tons
M1A1 Special Armour (Morocco): 63 tons
M1A1 Situational Awareness: 66 tons

The DU add-on armour by itself weighs more than 2 tons. The Situational Awareness (SA) package weighs about 3 tons. The two packages together weigh more than 5 tons.

DU armoured Abram's variants

M1A1HA: 65 tons
M1A1HC: 66 tons
M1A1 AIM v.2/SA: 68.2 tons (Australia!!!!!!!!!)
M1A1FEP: 68 tons
M1A2: 70 tons

Australia bought M1A1 AIM/SA tanks, but it is not publically known which block of M1A1 AIM SA they bought. The AIM v.1 does not have DU armour, but all subsequent blocks do. Block V.2 has 3rd generation DU armour which is slightly heavier than the 1 and 2 generation DU armour and was the standard used in AIM upgrades.

The M1A2 and all subsequent Abram's tanks weigh 70 tons or more. Which means that the A2 upgrade package weighs at least 5 tons total more than a base M1A1, not including the weight of the DU armour. These two packages together are 7 tons more than the base M1A1 (63 tons).

The Australian Army lists the Abram's weight at 62 metric tons (68.2 US tons). The base M1A1 weighs 63 US tons. Adding the weight of the SA package gets you to 66 tons. The only way an M1A1 AIM SA tank can get from 66 to 68.2 tons is with the addition of 2 tons plus of something. Either the Australian Abram's have DU armour or their scales are wrong and the weight listed on their own website should actually be 60 metric tons (66 US tons). Or they are hoping that no one will noticed the weight differences between a tank with DU armour and one without it.