Army set sights on sophisticated vetronics and technology for future main battle tanks

Could there be a lightweight armored combat vehicle able to speed across bridges, deploy quickly from the air, detect enemies at very long ranges, control nearby robots and fire the most advanced weapons in the world–all while maintaining the unprecedented protection and survivability of an Abrams tank? Just what, exactly, should future light main battle tanks look like? “I believe that a complete replacement of the Abrams would not make sense, unless we had a breakthrough ... with much lighter armor which allows us to re-architect the vehicle,” Col. Jim Schirmer, program manager for the Next Generation Combat Vehicle, said last month at the Association of the United States Army Annual Symposium in Washington. Newer lightweight armor composites, active protection systems, and next-generation vetronics may not evolve fast enough to address the most advanced emerging threats. The Next Generation Combat Vehicle (NGCV) program, which has been moved forward by nearly a decade, could likely evolve into a family of vehicles and will have unmanned technology. Any new tank will be engineered with additional space for automotive systems, people and ammunition.